Proverbiorum 23
1 Quando sederis ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende quæ apposita sunt ante faciem tuam.
If you sit to sup at the table of a prince, consider attentively the things set before you:
2 Et statue cultrum in gutture tuo: si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam.
and apply your hand, knowing that it behoves you to prepare such [meats]: but if you are very insatiable,
3 Ne desideres de cibis ejus, in quo est panis mendacii.
desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
4 Noli laborare ut diteris, sed prudentiæ tuæ pone modum.
If you are poor, measure not yourself with a rich man; but refrain yourself in your wisdom.
5 Ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes quas non potes habere, quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilæ, et volabunt in cælum.
If you should fix your eye upon him, he will disappear; for wings like an eagle's are prepared for him, and he returns to the house of his master.
6 Ne comedas cum homine invido, et ne desideres cibos ejus:
Sup not with an envious man, neither desire you his meats:
7 quoniam in similitudinem arioli et conjectoris æstimat quod ignorat. Comede et bibe, dicet tibi; et mens ejus non est tecum.
so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do not bring him in to yourself, nor eat your morsel with him:
8 Cibos quos comederas evomes, et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.
for he will vomit it up, and spoil your fair words.
9 In auribus insipientium ne loquaris, qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.
Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at your wise words.
10 Ne attingas parvulorum terminos, et agrum pupillorum ne introëas:
Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:
11 propinquus enim illorum fortis est, et ipse judicabit contra te causam illorum.
for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their cause with you.
12 Ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum, et aures tuæ ad verba scientiæ.
Apply your heart to instruction, and prepare your ears for words of discretion.
13 Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam: si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur.
Refrain not from chastening a child; for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
For you shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from death. (Sheol h7585)
15 Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit animus tuus, gaudebit tecum cor meum:
Son, if your heart be wise, you shall also gladden my heart;
16 et exsultabunt renes mei, cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.
and your lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
17 Non æmuletur cor tuum peccatores, sed in timore Domini esto tota die:
Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 quia habebis spem in novissimo, et præstolatio tua non auferetur.
For if you should keep these things, you shall have posterity; and your hope shall not be removed.
19 Audi, fili mi, et esto sapiens, et dirige in via animum tuum.
Hear, [my] son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of your heart.
20 Noli esse in conviviis potatorum, nec in comessationibus eorum qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt:
Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
21 quia vacantes potibus et dantes symbola consumentur, et vestietur pannis dormitatio.
for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
22 Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te, et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua.
Listen, [my] son, to your father which begot you, and despise not [your mother] because she is grown old.
23 Veritatem eme, et noli vendere sapientiam, et doctrinam, et intelligentiam.
24 Exsultat gaudio pater justi; qui sapientem genuit, lætabitur in eo.
A righteous father brings up [his children] well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
25 Gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua, et exsultet quæ genuit te.
Let your father and your mother rejoice over you, and let her that bore you be glad.
26 Præbe, fili mi, cor tuum mihi, et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.
[My] son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 Fovea enim profunda est meretrix, et puteus angustus aliena.
For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
28 Insidiatur in via quasi latro, et quos incautos viderit, interficiet.
For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be cut off.
29 Cui væ? cujus patri væ? cui rixæ? cui foveæ? cui sine causa vulnera? cui suffusio oculorum?
Who [has] woe? who trouble? who [has] quarrels? and who vexations and disputes? who [has] bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
30 nonne his qui commorantur in vino, et student calicibus epotandis?
Are not those of them that stay long at wine? [are] not [those] of them that haunt [the places] where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse [with them] openly.
31 Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit, cum splenduerit in vitro color ejus: ingreditur blande,
For if you should set your eyes on bowls and cups, you shall afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
32 sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber, et sicut regulus venena diffundet.
But at last [such a one] stretches himself out as one struck by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
33 Oculi tui videbunt extraneas, et cor tuum loquetur perversa.
Whenever your eyes shall behold a strange woman, then your mouth shall speak perverse things.
34 Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.
And you shall lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm.
35 Et dices: Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui; traxerunt me, et ego non sensi. Quando evigilabo, et rursus vina reperiam?
And you shall say, They struck me, and I was not pained; and they mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?
