Doth not wisdom cry aloud, and prudence put forth her voice?

Numquid non sapientia clamitat, et prudentia dat vocem suam?

And, all the while, the wisdom that grants discernment is crying aloud, is never silent;

Standing in the top of the highest places by the way, in the midst of the paths,

In summis excelsisque verticibus supra viam, in mediis semitis stans,

there she stands, on some high vantage-point by the public way, where the roads meet,

Beside the gates of the city, in the very doors she speaketh, saying:

juxta portas civitatis, in ipsis foribus loquitur, dicens:

or at the city’s approach, close beside the gates, making proclamation.

O ye men, to you I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.

O viri, ad vos clamito, et vox mea ad filios hominum.

To every man, high and low, her voice calls:

O little ones, understand subtilty, and ye unwise, take notice.

Intelligite, parvuli, astutiam, et insipientes, animadvertite.

Here is better counsel for the simpleton; O foolish hearts, take warning!

Hear, for I will speak of great things: and my lips shall be opened to preach right things.

Audite, quoniam de rebus magnis locutura sum, et aperientur labia mea ut recta prædicent.

Listen to me, I have matters of high moment to unfold, a plain message to deliver.

My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate wickedness.

Veritatem meditabitur guttur meum, et labia mea detestabuntur impium.

A tongue that speaks truth, lips that scorn impiety;

All my words are just, there is nothing wicked nor perverse in them.

Justi sunt omnes sermones mei: non est in eis pravum quid, neque perversum;

here all is sound doctrine, no shifts, no evasions here.

They are right to them that understand, and just to them that find knowledge.

recti sunt intelligentibus, et æqui invenientibus scientiam.

No discerning heart, no well-stored mind, but will own it right and just.

Receive my instruction, and not money: choose knowledge rather than gold.

Accipite disciplinam meam, et non pecuniam; doctrinam magis quam aurum eligite:

Here is counsel, here is instruction, better worth the winning than silver or the finest gold;

For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it.

melior est enim sapientia cunctis pretiosissimis, et omne desiderabile ei non potest comparari.

wisdom is more to be coveted than any jewel; there is no beauty that can be matched with hers.

I wisdom dwell in counsel, and am present in learned thoughts.

Ego sapientia, habito in consilio, et eruditis intersum cogitationibus.

What am I, the wisdom that speaks to you? To shrewdness I am a near neighbour, and I occupy myself with deep designs;

The fear of the Lord hateth evil: I hate arrogance, and pride, and every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue.

Timor Domini odit malum: arrogantiam, et superbiam, et viam pravam, et os bilingue, detestor.

but, since they must hate evil that fear the Lord, all pride and boastfulness, every mischievous design and every treacherous word I shun.

Counsel and equity is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine.

Meum est consilium et æquitas; mea est prudentia, mea est fortitudo.

Good counsel is mine, and honourable dealing, discernment and high courage are my gifts;

By me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just things,

Per me reges regnant, et legum conditores justa decernunt;

through me kings learn how to reign, law-givers how to lay down just decrees;

By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice.

per me principes imperant, et potentes decernunt justitiam.

through me chieftain and magistrate exercise their power aright.

I love them that love me: and they that in the morning early watch for me, shall find me.

Ego diligentes me diligo, et qui mane vigilant ad me, invenient me.

Love me, and thou shalt earn my love; wait early at my doors, and thou shalt gain access to me.

With me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice.

Mecum sunt divitiæ et gloria, opes superbæ et justitia.

The gifts I bring with me are riches and honour, princely state and the divine favour.

For my fruit is better than gold and the precious stone, and my blossoms than choice silver.

Melior est enim fructus meus auro et lapide pretioso, et genimina mea argento electo.

Mine is a yield better than gold or jewels, mine are revenues more precious than the finest silver.

I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of judgment,

In viis justitiæ ambulo, in medio semitarum judicii:

A faithful course I tread, nor exceed the bounds of just retribution,

That I may enrich them that love me, and may fill their treasures.

ut ditem diligentes me, et thesauros eorum repleam.

failing never to enrich the souls that love me with abundant store.

The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made any thing from the beginning.

Dominus possedit me in initio viarum suarum antequam quidquam faceret a principio.

The Lord made me his when first he went about his work, at the birth of time, before his creation began.

I was set up from eternity, and of old before the earth was made.

Ab æterno ordinata sum, et ex antiquis antequam terra fieret.

Long, long ago, before earth was fashioned, I held my course.

The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived, neither had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out:

Nondum erant abyssi, et ego jam concepta eram: necdum fontes aquarum eruperant,

Already I lay in the womb, when the depths were not yet in being, when no springs of water had yet broken;

The mountains with their huge bulk had not as yet been established: before the hills I was brought forth:

necdum montes gravi mole constiterant: ante colles ego parturiebar.

when I was born, the mountains had not yet sunk on their firm foundations, and there were no hills;

He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of the world.

Adhuc terram non fecerat, et flumina, et cardines orbis terræ.

not yet had he made the earth, or the rivers, or the solid framework of the world.

When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain law and compass he enclosed the depths:

Quando præparabat cælos, aderam; quando certa lege et gyro vallabat abyssos;

I was there when he built the heavens, when he fenced in the waters with a vault inviolable,

When he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of waters:

quando æthera firmabat sursum, et librabat fontes aquarum;

when he fixed the sky overhead, and levelled the fountain-springs of the deep.

When he compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the waters that they should not pass their limits: when he balanced the foundations of the earth;

quando circumdabat mari terminum suum, et legem ponebat aquis, ne transirent fines suos; quando appendebat fundamenta terræ:

I was there when he enclosed the sea within its confines, forbidding the waters to transgress their assigned limits, when he poised the foundations of the world.

I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day, playing before him at all times;

cum eo eram, cuncta componens. Et delectabar per singulos dies, ludens coram eo omni tempore,

I was at his side, a master-workman, my delight increasing with each day, as I made play before him all the while;

Playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children of men.

ludens in orbe terrarum; et deliciæ meæ esse cum filiis hominum.

made play in this world of dust, with the sons of Adam for my play-fellows.

Now therefore, ye children, hear me: Blessed are they that keep my ways.

Nunc ergo, filii, audite me: beati qui custodiunt vias meas.

Listen to me, then, you that are my sons, that follow, to your happiness, in the paths I shew you;

Hear instruction and be wise, and refuse it not.

Audite disciplinam, et estote sapientes, et nolite abjicere eam.

listen to the teaching that will make you wise, instead of turning away from it.

Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors.

Beatus homo qui audit me, et qui vigilat ad fores meas quotidie, et observat ad postes ostii mei.

Blessed are they who listen to me, keep vigil, day by day, at my threshold, watching till I open my doors.

He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation from the Lord:

Qui me invenerit, inveniet vitam, et hauriet salutem a Domino.

The man who wins me, wins life, drinks deep of the Lord’s favour;

But he that shall sin against me, shall hurt his own soul. All that hate me love death.

Qui autem in me peccaverit, lædet animam suam; omnes qui me oderunt diligunt mortem.

who fails, fails at his own bitter cost; to be my enemy is to be in love with death.