1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. 8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. 9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: 11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. 13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. 15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. 16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. 18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. 20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. 23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. 26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. 27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. 28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. 35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
1 quando sederis ut comedas cum principe
diligenter adtende quae posita sunt ante faciem tuam
2 et statue cultrum in gutture tuo
si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam
3 ne desideres de cibis eius in quo est panis mendacii
4 noli laborare ut diteris sed prudentiae tuae pone modum
5 ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes quas habere non potes
quia facient sibi pinnas quasi aquilae
et avolabunt in caelum
6 ne comedas cum homine invido et ne desideres cibos eius
7 quoniam in similitudinem arioli et coniectoris aestimat
quod ignorat
comede et bibe dicet tibi et mens eius non est tecum
8 cibos quos comederas evomes et perdes pulchros sermones tuos
9 in auribus insipientium ne loquaris
quia despicient doctrinam eloquii tui
10 ne adtingas terminos parvulorum
et agrum pupillorum ne introeas
11 propinquus enim eorum Fortis est
et ipse iudicabit contra te causam illorum
12 ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum et aures tuae ad verba scientiae
13 noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam
si enim percusseris eum virga non morietur
14 tu virga percuties eum
et animam eius de inferno liberabis
15 fili mi si sapiens fuerit animus tuus gaudebit tecum cor meum
16 et exultabunt renes mei cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua
17 non aemuletur cor tuum peccatores
sed in timore Domini esto tota die
18 quia habebis spem in novissimo et praestolatio tua non auferetur
19 audi fili mi et esto sapiens
et dirige in via animum tuum
20 noli esse in conviviis potatorum
nec in comesationibus eorum qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt
21 quia vacantes potibus et dantes symbola consumentur
et vestietur pannis dormitatio
22 audi patrem tuum qui genuit te
et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua
23 veritatem eme
et noli vendere sapientiam et doctrinam et intellegentiam
24 exultat gaudio pater iusti qui sapientem genuit laetabitur in eo
25 gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua
et exultet quae genuit te
26 praebe fili mi cor tuum mihi
et oculi tui vias meas custodiant
27 fovea enim profunda est meretrix et puteus angustus aliena
28 insidiatur in via quasi latro
et quos incautos viderit interficit
29 cui vae cuius patri vae cui rixae cui foveae
cui sine causa vulnera cui suffusio oculorum
30 nonne his qui morantur in vino
et student calicibus epotandis
31 ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit
cum splenduerit in vitro color eius
ingreditur blande
32 sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber
et sicut regulus venena diffundet
33 oculi tui videbunt extraneas
et cor tuum loquetur perversa
34 et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari
et quasi sopitus gubernator amisso clavo
35 et dices verberaverunt me sed non dolui
traxerunt me et ego non sensi
quando evigilabo et rursum vina repperiam