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

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.

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

illaqueatus es verbis oris tui, et captus propriis sermonibus.

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

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,

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:

ere thou thyself close an eye-lid in sleep;

Ne dederis somnum oculis tuis, nec dormitent palpebræ tuæ.

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

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

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.

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

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:

Chief or ruler she has none to give her commands;

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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:

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. )

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.

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

Homo apostata, vir inutilis, graditur ore perverso;

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

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

annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur,

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

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

pravo corde machinatur malum, et omni tempore jurgia seminat.

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

oculos sublimes, linguam mendacem, manus effundentes innoxium sanguinem,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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:

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

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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?

or walk on hot coals without burning his feet?

aut ambulare super prunas, ut non comburantur plantæ ejus?

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

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

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.

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

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:

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

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.

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

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:

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

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:

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

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,

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

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.