< Proverbiorum 5 >
1 Fili mi, attende ad sapientiam meam, et prudentiæ meæ inclina aurem tuam,
My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
2 ut custodias cogitationes, et disciplinam labia tua conservent. Ne attendas fallaciæ mulieris.
That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.
3 Favus enim distillans labia meretricis, et nitidius oleo guttur eius.
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 Novissima autem illius amara quasi absinthium, et acuta quasi gladius biceps.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.
5 Pedes eius descendunt in mortem, et ad inferos gressus illius penetrant. (Sheol )
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. (Sheol )
6 Per semitam vitæ non ambulant, vagi sunt gressus eius, et investigabiles.
Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.
7 Nunc ergo fili mi audi me, et ne recedas a verbis oris mei.
Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Longe fac ab ea viam tuam, et ne appropinques foribus domus eius.
Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
9 Ne des alienis honorem tuum, et annos tuos crudeli.
Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
10 Ne forte implentur extranei viribus tuis, et labores tui sint in domo aliena,
Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;
11 et gemas in novissimis, quando consumseris carnes tuas et corpus tuum, et dicas:
And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
12 Cur detestatus sum disciplinam, et increpationibus non acquievit cor meum,
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 nec audivi vocem docentium me, et magistris non inclinavi aurem meam?
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
14 Pene fui in omni malo, in medio ecclesiæ et synagogæ.
I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
15 Bibe aquam de cisterna tua, et fluenta putei tui:
Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
16 Deriventur fontes tui foras, et in plateis aquas tuas divide.
Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Habeto eas solus, nec sint alieni participes tui.
Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.
18 Sit vena tua benedicta, et lætare cum muliere adolescentiæ tuæ:
Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.
19 cerva charissima, et gratissimus hinnulus. Ubera eius inebrient te in omni tempore, in amore eius delectare iugiter.
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
20 Quare seduceris fili mi ab aliena, et foveris in sinu alterius?
And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 Respicit Dominus vias hominis, et omnes gressus eius considerat.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of Yhwh, and he pondereth all his goings.
22 Iniquitates suas capiunt impium, et funibus peccatorum suorum constringitur.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.
23 Ipse morietur, quia non habuit disciplinam, et in multitudine stultitiæ suæ decipietur.
He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.