Proverbiorum 2

1 Fili mi, si susceperis sermones meos, et mandata mea absconderis penes te,

My son, if you will take my words to your heart, storing up my laws in your mind;

2 ut audiat sapientiam auris tua: inclina cor tuum ad cognoscendam prudentiam.

So that your ear gives attention to wisdom, and your heart is turned to knowledge;

3 Si enim sapientiam invocaveris, et inclinaveris cor tuum prudentiæ:

Truly, if you are crying out for good sense, and your request is for knowledge;

4 si quæsieris eam quasi pecuniam, et sicut thesauros effoderis illam:

If you are looking for her as for silver, and searching for her as for stored-up wealth;

5 tunc intelliges timorem Domini, et scientiam Dei invenies:

Then the fear of the Lord will be clear to you, and knowledge of God will be yours.

6 quia Dominus dat sapientiam: et ex ore eius prudentia, et scientia.

For the Lord gives wisdom; out of his mouth come knowledge and reason:

7 Custodiet rectorum salutem, et proteget gradientes simpliciter,

He has salvation stored up for the upright, he is a breastplate to those in whom there is no evil;

8 servans semitas iustitiæ, et vias sanctorum custodiens.

He keeps watch on the ways which are right, and takes care of those who have the fear of him.

9 Tunc intelliges iustitiam, et iudicium, et æquitatem, et omnem semitam bonam.

Then you will have knowledge of righteousness and right acting, and upright behaviour, even of every good way.

10 Si intraverit sapientia cor tuum, et scientia animæ tuæ placuerit:

For wisdom will come into your heart, and knowledge will be pleasing to your soul;

11 consilium custodiet te, et prudentia servabit te,

Wise purposes will be watching over you, and knowledge will keep you;

12 ut eruaris a via mala, et ab homine, qui perversa loquitur:

Giving you salvation from the evil man, from those whose words are false;

13 qui relinquunt iter rectum, et ambulant per vias tenebrosas:

Who give up the way of righteousness, to go by dark roads;

14 qui lætantur cum malefecerint, et exultant in rebus pessimis:

Who take pleasure in wrongdoing, and have joy in the evil designs of the sinner;

15 quorum viæ perversæ sunt, et infames gressus eorum.

Whose ways are not straight, and whose footsteps are turned to evil:

16 Ut eruaris a muliere aliena, et ab extranea, quæ mollit sermones suos,

To take you out of the power of the strange woman, who says smooth words with her tongue;

17 et relinquit Ducem pubertatis suæ,

Who is false to the husband of her early years, and does not keep the agreement of her God in mind:

18 et pacti Dei sui oblita est. Inclinata est enim ad mortem domus eius, et ad inferos semitæ ipsius. (questioned)

For her house is on the way down to death; her footsteps go down to the shades:

19 Omnes, qui ingrediuntur ad eam, non revertentur, nec apprehendent semitas vitæ.

Those who go to her do not come back again; their feet do not keep in the ways of life:

20 Ut ambules in via bona: et calles iustorum custodias.

So that you may go in the way of good men, and keep in the footsteps of the upright.

21 Qui enim recti sunt, habitabunt in terra, et simplices permanebunt in ea.

For the upright will be living in the land, and the good will have it for their heritage.

22 Impii vero de terra perdentur: et qui inique agunt, auferentur ex ea.

But sinners will be cut off from the land, and those whose acts are false will be uprooted.