Fili mi, si spoponderis pro amico tuo, defixisti apud extraneum manum tuam:

My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast thy hand to a stranger.

My son, has some friend persuaded thee to be his surety? Hast thou pledged thyself for a bond which is none of thine?

illaqueatus es verbis oris tui, et captus propriis sermonibus.

Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught with thy own words.

Believe me, that word of assent has caught thee in a snare, thou art the prisoner of thy own promise made.

Fac ergo quod dico, fili mi, et temetipsum libera, quia incidisti in manum proximi tui. Discurre, festina, suscita amicum tuum.

Do therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste, stir up thy friend:

Do then, my son, as I bid thee; obtain thy freedom; it is ill done to fall into another man’s power. Quick, no time to lose; wake up this neighbour of thine from his bed,

Ne dederis somnum oculis tuis, nec dormitent palpebræ tuæ.

Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber.

ere thou thyself close an eye-lid in sleep;

Eruere quasi damula de manu, et quasi avis de manu aucupis.

Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

deer from captivity nor bird from fowler’s hand so swift to escape!

Vade ad formicam, o piger, et considera vias ejus, et disce sapientiam.

Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:

Up with thee, idleness, go to school with the ant, and learn the lesson of her ways!

Quæ cum non habeat ducem, nec præceptorem, nec principem,

Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,

Chief or ruler she has none to give her commands;

parat in æstate cibum sibi, et congregat in messe quod comedat.

Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.

yet in summer hours, when the harvest is a-gathering, she ever lays up food for her own nourishment.

Usquequo, piger, dormies? quando consurges e somno tuo?

How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou rise out of thy sleep?

And thou, idleness, art still a-bed; wilt thou never wake?

Paululum dormies, paululum dormitabis, paululum conseres manus ut dormias;

Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:

What, thou wouldst sleep a little longer, yawn a little longer; a little longer thou must pillow head on hand?

et veniet tibi quasi viator egestas, et pauperies quasi vir armatus. Si vero impiger fueris, veniet ut fons messis tua, et egestas longe fugiet a te.

And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee.

Ay, but poverty will not wait, the day of distress will not wait, like an armed vagabond it will fall upon thee! (Wouldst thou see the good grain flow like water, wouldst thou see poverty take wing, thou must be up and doing. )

Homo apostata, vir inutilis, graditur ore perverso;

A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man, walketh with a perverse mouth,

Worthless men there be, sinners there be, that go ever with a cunning smile on their lips;

annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur,

He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with the finger.

a wink here, there a pressure of the foot, there a beckoning finger;

pravo corde machinatur malum, et omni tempore jurgia seminat.

With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he soweth discord.

all the while their wicked hearts are plotting mischief, are sowing the causes of strife.

Huic extemplo veniet perditio sua, et subito conteretur, nec habebit ultra medicinam.

To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy.

Such men will be overtaken by their doom ere long, crushed all of a sudden beyond hope of remedy.

Sex sunt quæ odit Dominus, et septimum detestatur anima ejus:

Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth:

Six things I will tell thee, and name a seventh for good measure, the Lord hates and will never abide;

oculos sublimes, linguam mendacem, manus effundentes innoxium sanguinem,

Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

the haughty look, the lying tongue, the hands that take innocent life,

cor machinans cogitationes pessimas, pedes veloces ad currendum in malum,

A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief,

the heart that ever devises thoughts of mischief, the feet that hasten upon an ill errand,

proferentem mendacia testem fallacem, et eum qui seminat inter fratres discordias.

A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.

the false witness whose every breath is perjury, and the sower of strife among brethren.

Conserva, fili mi, præcepta patris tui, et ne dimittas legem matris tuæ.

My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.

Keep true, my son, to the charge thy father gives thee, nor make light of thy mother’s teaching;

Liga ea in corde tuo jugiter, et circumda gutturi tuo.

Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck.

wear them ever close to thy heart, hang them like a locket upon thy breast;

Cum ambulaveris, gradiantur tecum; cum dormieris, custodiant te: et evigilans loquere cum eis.

When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest, let them keep thee; and when thou awakest, talk with them.

be these, when thou walkest abroad, thy company, when thou liest asleep, thy safeguard, in waking hours, thy counsellors.

Quia mandatum lucerna est, et lex lux, et via vitæ increpatio disciplinæ:

Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:

That charge is a lamp to guide thee, that teaching a light to beckon thee; the warnings correction gave thee are a road leading to life.

ut custodiant te a muliere mala, et a blanda lingua extraneæ.

That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the stranger.

Here is protection for thee against the temptress that would lure thee away with her seductions.

Non concupiscat pulchritudinem ejus cor tuum, nec capiaris nutibus illius:

Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winks:

Never let her beauty win thy heart, never let her bold glance deceive thee.

pretium enim scorti vix est unius panis, mulier autem viri pretiosam animam capit.

For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman catcheth the precious soul of a man.

A harlot’s pay is but the price of a meal; the adulteress costs dearer, her price is a man’s whole life.

Numquid potest homo abscondere ignem in sinu suo, ut vestimenta illius non ardeant?

Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?

Who can carry fire in his bosom, without singeing the clothes he wears,

aut ambulare super prunas, ut non comburantur plantæ ejus?

Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?

or walk on hot coals without burning his feet?

sic qui ingreditur ad mulierem proximi sui, non erit mundus cum tetigerit eam.

So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife, shall not be clean when he shall touch her.

No more can a man mate with his neighbour’s wife, and not be defiled by her touch.

Non grandis est culpa cum quis furatus fuerit: furatur enim ut esurientem impleat animam;

The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul:

Small blame to the thief, when he steals to fill his hungry belly,

deprehensus quoque reddet septuplum, et omnem substantiam domus suæ tradet.

And if he be taken he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up all the substance of his house.

and if he be caught, why, he can pay sevenfold, or yield up all that he has;

Qui autem adulter est, propter cordis inopiam perdet animam suam;

But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall destroy his own soul:

the adulterer, in the hunger of his heart, must risk losing life itself.

turpitudinem et ignominiam congregat sibi, et opprobrium illius non delebitur:

He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out:

Scathe and scorn he wins for himself, and shame there is no blotting out;

quia zelus et furor viri non parcet in die vindictæ,

Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge,

no mercy for him, when the day of reckoning comes, from the anger of a jealous husband

nec acquiescet cujusquam precibus, nec suscipiet pro redemptione dona plurima.

Nor will he yield to any man’s prayers, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts.

that will listen to no man’s entreaties, will refuse ransom never so abundant.