Liber Proverbiorum, 5
1. Fili mi, attende ad sapientiam meam, et prudentiae meae inclina aurem tuam,
1. My son, be attentive to my wisdom, incline your ear to my understanding;
2. ut custodias cogitationes, et disciplinam labia tua conservent.
2. that you may keep discretion, and your lips may guard knowledge.
3. Favum enim stillant labia meretricis, et nitidius oleo guttur eius;
3. For the lips of a loose woman drip honey, and her speech is smoother than oil;
4. novissima autem illius amara quasi absinthium et acuta quasi gladius biceps.
4. but in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
5. Pedes eius descendunt in mortem, et ad inferos gressus illius tendunt;
5. Her feet go down to death; her steps follow the path to Sheol;
6. cum non observet semitam vitae, vagi sunt gressus eius, et ipsa nescit.
6. she does not take heed to the path of life; her ways wander, and she does not know it.
7. Nunc ergo, fili mi, audi me et ne recedas a verbis oris mei.
7. And now, O sons, listen to me, and do not depart from the words of my mouth.
8. Longe fac ab ea viam tuam et ne appropinques foribus domus eius.
8. Keep your way far from her, and do not go near the door of her house;
9. Ne des alienis honorem tuum et annos tuos crudeli,
9. lest you give your honor to others and your years to the merciless;
10. ne forte impleantur extranei viribus tuis, et labores tui sint in domo aliena,
10. lest strangers take their fill of your strength, and your labors go to the house of an alien;
11. et gemas in novissimis, quando consumpseris carnes tuas et corpus tuum
11. and at the end of your life you groan, when your flesh and body are consumed,
12. et dicas: “Cur detestatus sum disciplinam, et increpationes renuit cor meum,
12. and you say, "How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!
13. nec audivi vocem docentium me et magistris non inclinavi aurem meam?
13. I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my instructors.
14. Paene fui in omni malo, in medio ecclesiae et synagogae”.
14. I was at the point of utter ruin in the assembled congregation."
15. Bibe aquam de cisterna tua et fluenta putei tui,
15. Drink water from your own cistern, flowing water from your own well.
16. ne deriventur fontes tui foras, et in plateis rivi aquarum;
16. Should your springs be scattered abroad, streams of water in the streets?
17. habeto eas solus, nec sint alieni participes tui.
17. Let them be for yourself alone, and not for strangers with you.
18. Sit vena tua benedicta, et laetare cum muliere adulescentiae tuae;
18. Let your fountain be blessed, and rejoice in the wife of your youth,
19. cerva carissima et gratissimus hinnulus, blanditiae eius inebrient te in omni tempore, in amore eius delectare iugiter.
19. a lovely hind, a graceful doe. Let her affection fill you at all times with delight, be infatuated always with her love.
20. Quare seduceris, fili mi, ab aliena et foveris in sinu extraneae?
20. Why should you be infatuated, my son, with a loose woman and embrace the bosom of an adventuress?
21. Quoniam ante Dominum viae hominis, et omnes gressus eius considerat.
21. For a man's ways are before the eyes of the LORD, and he watches all his paths.
22. Iniquitates suae capient impium, et funibus peccatorum suorum constringetur.
22. The iniquities of the wicked ensnare him, and he is caught in the toils of his sin.
23. Ipse morietur, quia non habuit disciplinam, et in multitudine stultitiae suae decipietur.
23. He dies for lack of discipline, and because of his great folly he is lost.
