1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

1 Quando sederis ut comedas cum principe,
diligenter attende quæ apposita sunt ante faciem tuam.

2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

2 Et statue cultrum in gutture tuo:
si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam.

3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

3 Ne desideres de cibis ejus,
in quo est panis mendacii.

4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

4 Noli laborare ut diteris,
sed prudentiæ tuæ pone modum.

5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

5 Ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes quas non potes habere,
quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilæ, et volabunt in cælum.

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

6 Ne comedas cum homine invido,
et ne desideres cibos ejus:

7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

7 quoniam in similitudinem arioli et conjectoris
æstimat quod ignorat.
Comede et bibe, dicet tibi;
et mens ejus non est tecum.

8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

8 Cibos quos comederas evomes,
et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.

9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

9 In auribus insipientium ne loquaris,
qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.

10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

10 Ne attingas parvulorum terminos,
et agrum pupillorum ne introëas:

11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

11 propinquus enim illorum fortis est,
et ipse judicabit contra te causam illorum.

12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

12 ¶ Ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum,
et aures tuæ ad verba scientiæ.

13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

13 Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam:
si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur.

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

14 Tu virga percuties eum,
et animam ejus de inferno liberabis.

15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

15 Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit animus tuus,
gaudebit tecum cor meum:

16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

16 et exsultabunt renes mei,
cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.

17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.

17 Non æmuletur cor tuum peccatores,
sed in timore Domini esto tota die:

18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

18 quia habebis spem in novissimo,
et præstolatio tua non auferetur.

19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

19 Audi, fili mi, et esto sapiens,
et dirige in via animum tuum.

20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

20 Noli esse in conviviis potatorum,
nec in comessationibus eorum qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt:

21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

21 quia vacantes potibus et dantes symbola consumentur,
et vestietur pannis dormitatio.

22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

22 Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te,
et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua.

23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

23 Veritatem eme, et noli vendere sapientiam,
et doctrinam, et intelligentiam.

24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

24 Exsultat gaudio pater justi;
qui sapientem genuit, lætabitur in eo.

25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

25 Gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua,
et exsultet quæ genuit te.

26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

26 Præbe, fili mi, cor tuum mihi,
et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.

27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

27 Fovea enim profunda est meretrix,
et puteus angustus aliena.

28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

28 Insidiatur in via quasi latro,
et quos incautos viderit, interficiet.

29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

29 ¶ Cui væ? cujus patri væ?
cui rixæ? cui foveæ?
cui sine causa vulnera? cui suffusio oculorum?

30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

30 nonne his qui commorantur in vino,
et student calicibus epotandis?

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

31 Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit,
cum splenduerit in vitro color ejus:
ingreditur blande,

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

32 sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber,
et sicut regulus venena diffundet.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

33 Oculi tui videbunt extraneas,
et cor tuum loquetur perversa.

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

34 Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari,
et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.

35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

35 Et dices: Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui;
traxerunt me, et ego non sensi.
Quando evigilabo, et rursus vina reperiam?