(No prolog)

 1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
Quando sederis ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende quae apposita sunt ante faciem tuam.

 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
Et statue cultrum in gutture tuo; si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam.

 3 Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
Ne desideres de cibis ejus, in quo est panis mendacii.

 4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
Noli laborare ut diteris, sed prudentiae tuae pone modum.

 5 Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.
Ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes quas non potes habere, quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilae et volabunt in caelum.

 6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
Ne comedas cum homine invido, et ne desideres cibos ejus;

 7 Because like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.
quoniam in similitudinem arioli et conjectoris, aestimat quod ignorat. Comede et bibe, dicet tibi; et mens ejus non est tecum.

 8 The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
Cibos, quos comederas evomes, et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.

 9 Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
In auribus insipientium ne loquaris, qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.

 10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
Ne attingas parvulorum terminos, et agrum pupillorum ne introeas :

 11 For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
propinquus enim illorum fortis est, et ipse judicabit contra te causam illorum.

 12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
Ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum, et aures tuae ad verba scientiae.

 13 Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam; si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur.

 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.
Tu virga percuties eum, et animam ejus de inferno liberabis.

 15 My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit animus tuus, gaudebit tecum cor meum;

 16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
et exsultabunt renes mei, cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.

 17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
Non aemuletur cor tuum peccatores, sed in timore Domini esto tota die;

 18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
quia habebis spem in novissimo, et praestolatio tua non auferetur.

 19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
Audi, fili mi, et esto sapiens, et dirige in via animum tuum.

 20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
Noli esse in conviviis potatorum, nec in comessationibus eorum qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt;

 21 Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
quia vacantes potibus et dantes symbola consumentur, et vestietur pannis dormitatio.

 22 Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te, et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua.

 23 Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Veritatem eme, et noli vendere sapientiam, et doctrinam, et intelligentiam.

 24 The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
Exsultat gaudio pater justi; qui sapientem genuit laetabitur in eo.

 25 Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
Gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua, et exsultet quae genuit te.

 26 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
Praebe, fili mi, cor tuum mihi, et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.

 27 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
Fovea enim profunda est meretrix, et puteus angustus aliena.

 28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
Insidiatur in via quasi latro, et quos incautos viderit interficiet.

 29 Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Cui vae? cujus patri vae? cui rixae? cui foveae? cui sine causa vulnera? cui suffusio oculorum?

 30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
nonne his qui commorantur in vino, et student calicibus epotandis?

 31 Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit, cum splenduerit in vitro color ejus : ingreditur blande,

 32 But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber, et sicut regulus venena diffundet.

 33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Oculi tui videbunt extraneas, et cor tuum loquetur perversa.

 34 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.

 35 And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?
Et dices : Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui; traxerunt me, et ego non sensi. Quando evigilabo, et rursus vina reperiam?