Liber Proverbiorum, 23
1. Quando sederis, ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende, quae apposita sunt ante faciem tuam,
1. When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you;
2. et statue cultrum in gutture tuo, si avidus es.
2. and put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
3. Ne desideres de cibis eius, quia est panis mendacii.
3. Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.
4. Noli laborare, ut diteris, sed in prudentia tua acquiesce.
4. Do not toil to acquire wealth; be wise enough to desist.
5. Si erigas oculos tuos ad opes, iam non sunt; quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilae et volabunt in caelum.
5. When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes to itself wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6. Ne comedas cum homine invido et ne desideres cibos eius;
6. Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies;
7. quoniam sicut aestimavit in animo suo, ita ipse est. “Comede et bibe” dicet tibi, et mens eius non est tecum.
7. for he is like one who is inwardly reckoning. "Eat and drink!" he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8. Buccellam, quam comederas, evomes et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.
8. You will vomit up the morsels which you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.
9. In auribus insipientium ne loquaris, quia despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.
9. Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10. Ne attingas terminos viduae et agrum pupillorum ne introeas:
10. Do not remove an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless;
11. redemptor enim illorum fortis est, et ipse iudicabit contra te causam illorum.
11. for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.
12. Introduc ad doctrinam cor tuum et aures tuas ad verba scientiae.
12. Apply your mind to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.
13. Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam; si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur:
13. Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14. tu virga percuties eum et animam eius de inferno liberabis.
14. If you beat him with the rod you will save his life from Sheol.
15. Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit cor tuum, gaudebit tecum et cor meum,
15. My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.
16. et exsultabunt renes mei, cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.
16. My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
17. Non aemuletur cor tuum peccatores, sed in timore Domini esto tota die,
17. Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.
18. quia est tibi posteritas, et praestolatio tua non auferetur.
18. Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19. Audi, fili mi, et esto sapiens et dirige in via animum tuum.
19. Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way.
20. Noli esse in conviviis potatorum nec in comissationibus carnis,
20. Be not among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
21. quia vacantes potibus et comissatores consumentur, et vestietur pannis dormitatio.
21. for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22. Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te, et ne contemnas, cum senuerit mater tua.
22. Hearken to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23. Veritatem eme et noli vendere; sapientiam eme et doctrinam et intellegentiam.
23. Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24. Exsultat gaudio pater iusti; qui sapientem genuit, laetabitur in eo;
24. The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
25. gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua, et exsultet, quae genuit te.
25. Let your father and mother be glad, let her who bore you rejoice.
26. Praebe, fili mi, cor tuum mihi, et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.
26. My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27. Fovea enim profunda est meretrix, et puteus angustus aliena,
27. For a harlot is a deep pit; an adventuress is a narrow well.
28. nam insidiatur ipsa in via quasi latro et iniquos in hominibus addet.
28. She lies in wait like a robber and increases the faithless among men.
29. Cui “Vae”? Cui “Eheu”? Cui rixae? Cui querela? Cui sine causa vulnera? Cui suffusio oculorum?
29. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30. His, qui commorantur in vino et eunt, ut scrutentur mixtum.
30. Those who tarry long over wine, those who go to try mixed wine.
31. Ne intuearis vinum, quando flavescit, cum splenduerit in calice color eius: ingreditur blande,
31. Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
32. sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber et sicut regulus vulnerat.
32. At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
33. Oculi tui videbunt extranea, et cor tuum loquetur perversa;
33. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things.
34. et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari et quasi sopitus ad malum navis:
34. You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.
35. “Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui, percusserunt me, et ego non sensi; quando evigilabo et rursus illud requiram?”.
35. "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."
