Proverbiorum 7
1 Fili mi, custodi sermones meos, et praecepta mea reconde tibi. Fili
My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.
2 serva mandata mea, et vives: et legem meam quasi pupillam oculi tui:
Keep my commandments and live, and my teaching as the apple of thine eye.
3 liga eam in digitis tuis, scribe illam in tabulis cordis tui.
Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thy heart.
4 Dic sapientiae, soror mea es: et prudentiam voca amicam tuam,
Say unto wisdom: 'Thou art my sister', and call understanding thy kinswoman;
5 ut custodiant te a muliere extranea, et ab aliena, quae verba sua dulcia facit.
That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the alien woman that maketh smooth her words.
6 De fenestra enim domus meae per cancellos prospexi,
For at the window of my house I looked forth through my lattice;
7 et video parvulos, considero vecordem iuvenem,
And I beheld among the thoughtless ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,
8 qui transit per plateam iuxta angulum, et prope viam domus illius, graditur
Passing through the street near her corner, and he went the way to her house;
9 in obscuro, advesperascente die, in noctis tenebris, et caligine.
In the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the blackness of night and the darkness.
10 Et ecce occurrit illi mulier ornatu meretricio, praeparata ad decipiendas animas: garrula, et vaga,
And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of a harlot, and wily of heart.
11 quietis impatiens, nec valens in domo consistere pedibus suis,
She is riotous and rebellious, her feet abide not in her house;
12 nunc foris, nunc in plateis, nunc iuxta angulos insidians.
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, and lieth in wait at every corner.
13 Apprehensumque deosculatur iuvenem, et procaci vultu blanditur, dicens:
So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face she said unto him:
14 Victimas pro salute vovi, hodie reddidi vota mea.
'Sacrifices of peace-offerings were due from me; this day have I paid my vows.
15 idcirco egressa sum in occursum tuum, desiderans te videre, et reperi.
Therefore came I forth to meet thee, to seek thy face, and I have found thee.
16 Intexui funibus lectulum meum, stravi tapetibus pictis ex Aegypto.
I have decked my couch with coverlets, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
17 aspersi cubile meum myrrha, et aloe, et cinnamomo.
I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
18 Veni, inebriemur uberibus, et fruamur cupitis amplexibus, donec illucescat dies.
Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning; let us solace ourselves with loves.
19 non est enim vir in domo sua, abiit via longissima.
For my husband is not at home, he is gone a long journey;
20 sacculum pecuniae secum tulit: in die plenae lunae reversurus est in domum suam.
He hath taken the bag of money with him; he will come home at the full moon.'
21 Irretivit eum multis sermonibus, et blanditiis labiorum protraxit illum.
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield, with the blandishment of her lips she enticeth him away.
22 Statim eam sequitur quasi bos ductus ad victimam, et quasi agnus lasciviens, et ignorans quod ad vincula stultus trahatur,
He goeth after her straightway, as an ox that goeth to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to the correction of the fool;
23 donec transfigat sagitta iecur eius: velut si avis festinet ad laqueum, et nescit quod de periculo animae illius agitur.
Till an arrow strike through his liver; as a bird hasteneth to the snare — and knoweth not that it is at the cost of his life.
24 Nunc ergo fili mi, audi me, et attende verbis oris mei.
Now therefore, O ye children, hearken unto me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
25 Ne abstrahatur in viis illius mens tua: neque decipiaris semitis eius.
Let not thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.
26 multos enim vulneratos deiecit, et fortissimi quique interfecti sunt ab ea.
For she hath cast down many wounded; yea, a mighty host are all her slain.
