Proverbiorum 23
1 Quando sederis ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende quæ apposita sunt ante faciem tuam:
When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;
2 et statue cultrum in gutture tuo, si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam,
And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 ne desideres de cibis eius, in quo est panis mendacii.
Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Noli laborare ut diteris: sed prudentiæ tuæ pone modum.
Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money.
5 Ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes, quas non potes habere: quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilæ, et volabunt in cælum.
Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.
6 Ne comedas cum homine invido, et ne desideres cibos eius:
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 quoniam in similitudinem arioli, et coniectoris, æstimat quod ignorat. Comede et bibe, dicet tibi: et mens eius non est tecum.
For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 Cibos, quos comederas, evomes: et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.
The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 In auribus insipientium ne loquaris: qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.
Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Ne attingas parvulorum terminos: et agrum pupillorum ne introeas:
Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;
11 Propinquus enim illorum fortis est: et ipse iudicabit contra te causam illorum.
For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum: et aures tuæ ad verba scientiæ.
Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam: si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur.
Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.
Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
15 Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit animus tuus, gaudebit tecum cor meum:
My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 et exultabunt renes mei, cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.
And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Non æmuletur cor tuum peccatores: sed in timore Domini esto tota die:
Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 quia habebis spem in novissimo, et præstolatio tua non auferetur.
For without doubt 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.
Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way.
20 Noli esse in conviviis potatorum, nec in comessationibus eorum, qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt:
Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:
21 quia vacantes potibus, et dantes symbola consumentur, et vestietur pannis dormitatio.
For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.
22 Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te: et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua.
Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.
23 Veritatem eme, et noli vendere sapientiam, et doctrinam, et intelligentiam.
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
24 Exultat gaudio pater iusti: qui sapientem genuit, lætabitur in eo.
The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.
25 Gaudeat pater tuus, et mater tua, et exultet quæ genuit te.
Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 Præbe fili mi cor tuum mihi: et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 Fovea enim profunda est meretrix: et puteus angustus, aliena.
For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 Insidiatur in via quasi latro, et quos incautos viderit, interficiet.
Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 Cui væ? cuius patri væ? cui rixæ? cui foveæ? cui sine causa vulnera? cui suffusio oculorum?
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 Nonne his, qui commorantur in vino, et student calicibus epotandis?
Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit, cum splenduerit in vitro color eius: ingreditur blande,
Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:
32 sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber, et sicut regulus venena diffundet.
In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 Oculi tui videbunt extraneas, et cor tuum loquetur perversa.
Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo:
Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.
35 et dices: Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui: traxerunt me, et ego non sensi: quando evigilabo, et rursus vina reperiam?
They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
