Hæc illum qui primus formatus est a Deo patre orbis terrarum, cum solus esset creatus, custodivit,

She preserved him, that was first formed by God the father of the world, when he was created alone,

When man was but newly made, the lonely father of this created world, she it was that watched over him,

et eduxit illum a delicto suo, et dedit illi virtutem continendi omnia.

And she brought him out of his sin, and gave him power to govern all things.

and set him free from wrong-doing of his own, and gave him the mastery over all things else.

Ab hac ut recessit injustus in ira sua, per iram homicidii fraterni deperiit.

But when the unjust went away from her in his anger, he perished by the fury wherewith he murdered his brother.

Against her Cain rebelled, when he did foul wrong, and by murderous spite against his brother compassed his own ruin.

Propter quem cum aqua deleret terram, sanavit iterum sapientia, per contemptibile lignum justum gubernans.

For whose cause, when water destroyed the earth, wisdom healed it again, directing the course of the just by contemptible wood.

Who but she, when the world was a-drowning for Cain’s fault, gave it a second term of life, steering, on a paltry raft, one innocent man to safety?

Hæc et in consensu nequitiæ, cum se nationes contulissent, scivit justum, et conservavit sine querela Deo, et in filii misericordia fortem custodivit.

Moreover when the nations had conspired together to consent to wickedness, she knew the just, and preserved him without blame to God, and kept him strong against the compassion for his son.

And when the nations went their several ways, banded in a single conspiracy of wickedness, of one man’s innocence she still took note; Abraham must be kept irreproachable in God’s service, and steeled against pity for his own child.

Hæc justum a pereuntibus impiis liberavit fugientem, descendente igne in Pentapolim:

She delivered the just man who fled from the wicked that were perishing, when the fire came down upon Pentapolis:

Here was another innocent man, Lot, that owed his preservation to Wisdom, when godless folk were perishing all around him. Escape he should, when fire came down upon the Cities of the Plain;

quibus in testimonium nequitiæ fumigabunda constat deserta terra, et incerto tempore fructus habentes arbores: et incredibilis animæ memoria stans figmentum salis.

Whose land for a testimony of their wickedness is desolate, and smoketh to this day, and the trees bear fruits that ripen not, and a standing pillar of salt is a monument of an incredulous soul.

those five cities whose shame is yet unforgotten, while smoke issues from the barren soil, and never tree bears seasonable fruit, and the pillar of salt stands monument to an unbelieving soul.

Sapientiam enim prætereuntes, non tantum in hoc lapsi sunt ut ignorarent bona, sed et insipientiæ suæ reliquerunt hominibus memoriam, ut in his quæ peccaverunt nec latere potuissent.

For regarding not wisdom, they did not only slip in this, that they were ignorant of good things, but they left also unto men a memorial of their folly, so that in the things in which they sinned, they could not so much as lie hid.

Fatal neglect of Wisdom’s guidance, that could blind their eyes to the claims of honour, and leave the world such a memorial of their folly, as should make the record of their sins unmistakable!

Sapientia autem hos qui se observant a doloribus liberavit.

But wisdom hath delivered from sorrow them that attend upon her.

But those who cherish her, Wisdom brings safely out of all their striving.

Hæc profugum iræ fratris justum deduxit per vias rectas, et ostendit illi regnum Dei, et dedit illi scientiam sanctorum; honestavit illum in laboribus, et complevit labores illius.

She conducted the just, when he fled from his brother’s wrath, through the right ways, and shewed him the kingdom of God, and gave him the knowledge of the holy things, made him honourable in his labours, and accomplished his labours.

When Jacob, her faithful servant, was in flight from his brother’s anger, she guided him straight to his goal, and on the way shewed him the heavenly kingdom, gave him knowledge of holy things. She enriched him by his toil, and gave all his labours a happy issue.

In fraude circumvenientium illum affuit illi, et honestum fecit illum.

In the deceit of them that overreached him, she stood by him, and made him honourable.

Knavery went about to get the better of him, but she stood by him and prospered him;

Custodivit illum ab inimicis, et a seductoribus tutavit illum: et certamen forte dedit illi ut vinceret, et sciret quoniam omnium potentior est sapientia.

She kept him safe from his enemies, and she defended him from seducers, and gave him a strong conflict, that he might overcome, and know that wisdom is mightier than all.

kept him safe from his enemies, protected him from their scheming. She would have him wrestle manfully, and prove that there is no strength like the strength of wisdom.

Hæc venditum justum non dereliquit, sed a peccatoribus liberavit eum; descenditque cum illo in foveam,

She forsook not the just when he was sold, but delivered him from sinners: she went down with him into the pit.

When Joseph, in his innocence, was sold for a slave, Wisdom did not desert him, did not leave him among the guilty, but went down with him into his dungeon.

et in vinculis non dereliquit illum, donec afferret illi sceptrum regni, et potentiam adversus eos qui eum deprimebant: et mendaces ostendit qui maculaverunt illum, et dedit illi claritatem æternam.

And in bands she left him not, till she brought him the sceptre of the kingdom, and power against those that oppressed him: and shewed them to be liars that had accused him, and gave him everlasting glory.

Fast he was bound, but she had not finished with him till she gave him dominion over a whole kingdom, and power to do what he would with his persecutors. So she brought home the lie to those who had traduced him, and won him everlasting fame.

Hæc populum justum et semen sine querela liberavit a nationibus quæ illum deprimebant.

She delivered the just people, and blameless seed from the nations that oppressed them.

So, too, with that innocent people of Israel, that unoffending race; did she not deliver them from the nations that kept them under?

Intravit in animam servi Dei, et stetit contra reges horrendos in portentis et signis.

She entered into the soul of the servant of God, and stood against dreadful kings in wonders and signs.

Did she not enter into the heart of God’s servant, confronting dread rulers with portent and with miracle?

Et reddidit justis mercedem laborum suorum, et deduxit illos in via mirabili: et fuit illis in velamento diei, et in luce stellarum per noctem;

And she rendered to the just the wages of their labours, and conducted them in a wonderful way: and she was to them for a covert by day, and for the light of stars by night:

Did she not restore to men ill-used the just reward of their labours? She, too, led them out on their miraculous journey, affording them shelter by day and starry radiance at night.

transtulit illos per mare Rubrum, et transvexit illos per aquam nimiam.

And she brought them through the Red Sea, and carried them over through a great water.

She made a passage for them through the Red Sea, brought them safely through those leagues of water,

Inimicos autem illorum demersit in mare, et ab altitudine inferorum eduxit illos. Ideo justi tulerunt spolia impiorum,

But their enemies she drowned in the sea, and from the depth of hell she brought them out. Therefore the just took the spoils of the wicked.

and churned up the bodies of their drowned enemy from those unfathomed depths. So, enriched by the spoils of the godless,

et decantaverunt, Domine, nomen sanctum tuum, et victricem manum tuam laudaverunt pariter:

And they sung to thy holy name, O Lord, and they praised with one accord thy victorious hand.

they extolled, O Lord, thy holy name, proclaimed with one voice thy sovereign power;

quoniam sapientia aperuit os mutorum, et linguas infantium fecit disertas.

For wisdom opened the mouth of the dumb, and made the tongues of infants eloquent.

Wisdom opened the dumb mouths, and made the lips of infants vocal with praise.