1 My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

1 Fili mi, custodi sermones meos,
et præcepta mea reconde tibi.
Fili,

2 Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

2 serva mandata mea, et vives;
et legem meam quasi pupillam oculi tui:

3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

3 liga eam in digitis tuis,
scribe illam in tabulis cordis tui.

4 Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

4 Dic sapientiæ: Soror mea es,
et prudentiam voca amicam tuam:

5 That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

5 ut custodiant te a muliere extranea,
et ab aliena quæ verba sua dulcia facit.

6 ¶ For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

6 De fenestra enim domus meæ
per cancellos prospexi,

7 And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

7 et video parvulos;
considero vecordem juvenem,

8 Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

8 qui transit per plateam juxta angulum
et prope viam domus illius graditur:

9 In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

9 in obscuro, advesperascente die,
in noctis tenebris et caligine.

10 And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

10 Et ecce occurrit illi mulier ornatu meretricio,
præparata ad capiendas animas:
garrula et vaga,

11 (She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

11 quietis impatiens,
nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis;

12 Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

12 nunc foris, nunc in plateis,
nunc juxta angulos insidians.

13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

13 Apprehensumque deosculatur juvenem,
et procaci vultu blanditur, dicens:

14 I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

14 Victimas pro salute vovi;
hodie reddidi vota mea:

15 Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

15 idcirco egressa sum in occursum tuum,
desiderans te videre, et reperi.

16 I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

16 Intexui funibus lectulum meum;
stravi tapetibus pictis ex Ægypto:

17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

17 aspersi cubile meum myrrha,
et aloë, et cinnamomo.

18 Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

18 Veni, inebriemur uberibus,
et fruamur cupitis amplexibus donec illucescat dies.

19 For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

19 Non est enim vir in domo sua:
abiit via longissima:

20 He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

20 sacculum pecuniæ secum tulit;
in die plenæ lunæ reversurus est in domum suam.

21 With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

21 Irretivit eum multis sermonibus,
et blanditiis labiorum protraxit illum.

22 He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

22 Statim eam sequitur quasi bos ductus ad victimam,
et quasi agnus lasciviens,
et ignorans quod ad vincula stultus trahatur:

23 Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

23 donec transfigat sagitta jecur ejus,
velut si avis festinet ad laqueum,
et nescit quod de periculo animæ illius agitur.

24 ¶ Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

24 Nunc ergo, fili mi, audi me,
et attende verbis oris mei.

25 Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

25 Ne abstrahatur in viis illius mens tua,
neque decipiaris semitis ejus;

26 For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

26 multos enim vulneratos dejecit,
et fortissimi quique interfecti sunt ab ea.

27 Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.

27 Viæ inferi domus ejus,
penetrantes in interiora mortis.