Proverbs Chapter 6

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast thy hand to a stranger,
2 Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught with thy own words.
3 Do, therefore, my son, what I say, and deliver thyself: because thou art fallen into the hand of thy neighbour. Run about, make haste, stir up thy friend:
4 Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber.
5 Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand of the fowler.

6 Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:
7 Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,
8 Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her food in the harvest.
9 How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of thy sleep?
10 Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to sleep:
11 And want shall come upon thee, as a traveller, and poverty as a man armed. But if thou be diligent, thy harvest shall come as a fountain, and want shall flee far from thee.

12 A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man, walketh with a perverse mouth,
13 He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with the finger.
14 With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he soweth discord.
15 To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy.

16 Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his soul detesteth:
17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
18 A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run into mischief,
19 A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth discord among brethren.

20 My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother.
21 Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck.
22 When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest, let them keep thee, and when thou awakest, talk with them.
23 Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
24 That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the flattering tongue of the stranger.
25 Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winks:
26 For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman catcheth the precious soul of a man.
27 Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?
28 Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?
29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife, shall not be clean when he shall touch her.
30 The fault is not so great when a man hath stolen: for he stealeth to fill his hungry soul: The fault is not so great, etc... The sin of theft is not so great, as to be compared with adultery: especially when a person pressed with hunger (which is the case here spoken of) steals to satisfy nature. Moreover the damage done by theft may much more easily be repaired, than the wrong done by adultery. But this does not hinder, but that theft also is a mortal sin, forbidden by one of the ten commandments.
31 And if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up all the substance of his house.
32 But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall destroy his own soul:
33 He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach shall not be blotted out:
34 Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the day of revenge,
35 Nor will he yield to any man's prayers, nor will he accept for satisfaction ever so many gifts.

Old Testament first published 1609 by the English College at Douay
New Testament first published 1582 by the English College at Rheims
Revised and Annotated 1749 by Bishop Richard Challoner
Imprimatur. +James Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of Baltimore, September 1, 1899

Latin (Clementine Vulgate)

1 Fili mi, si spoponderis pro amico tuo,
defixisti apud extraneum manum tuam:
2 illaqueatus es verbis oris tui,
et captus propriis sermonibus.
3 Fac ergo quod dico, fili mi, et temetipsum libera,
quia incidisti in manum proximi tui.
Discurre, festina, suscita amicum tuum.
4 Ne dederis somnum oculis tuis,
nec dormitent palpebræ tuæ.
5 Eruere quasi damula de manu,
et quasi avis de manu aucupis.

6 Vade ad formicam, o piger,
et considera vias ejus, et disce sapientiam.
7 Quæ cum non habeat ducem,
nec præceptorem, nec principem,
8 parat in æstate cibum sibi,
et congregat in messe quod comedat.
9 Usquequo, piger, dormies?
quando consurges e somno tuo?
10 Paululum dormies, paululum dormitabis,
paululum conseres manus ut dormias;
11 et veniet tibi quasi viator egestas,
et pauperies quasi vir armatus.
Si vero impiger fueris, veniet ut fons messis tua,
et egestas longe fugiet a te.

12 Homo apostata, vir inutilis, graditur ore perverso;
13 annuit oculis, terit pede, digito loquitur,
14 pravo corde machinatur malum,
et omni tempore jurgia seminat.
15 Huic extemplo veniet perditio sua,
et subito conteretur, nec habebit ultra medicinam.

16 Sex sunt quæ odit Dominus,
et septimum detestatur anima ejus:
17 oculos sublimes, linguam mendacem,
manus effundentes innoxium sanguinem,
18 cor machinans cogitationes pessimas,
pedes veloces ad currendum in malum,
19 proferentem mendacia testem fallacem,
et eum qui seminat inter fratres discordias.

20 Conserva, fili mi, præcepta patris tui,
et ne dimittas legem matris tuæ.
21 Liga ea in corde tuo jugiter,
et circumda gutturi tuo.
22 Cum ambulaveris, gradiantur tecum;
cum dormieris, custodiant te:
et evigilans loquere cum eis.
23 Quia mandatum lucerna est, et lex lux,
et via vitæ increpatio disciplinæ:
24 ut custodiant te a muliere mala,
et a blanda lingua extraneæ.
25 Non concupiscat pulchritudinem ejus cor tuum,
nec capiaris nutibus illius:
26 pretium enim scorti vix est unius panis,
mulier autem viri pretiosam animam capit.
27 Numquid potest homo abscondere ignem in sinu suo,
ut vestimenta illius non ardeant?
28 aut ambulare super prunas,
ut non comburantur plantæ ejus?
29 sic qui ingreditur ad mulierem proximi sui,
non erit mundus cum tetigerit eam.
30 Non grandis est culpa cum quis furatus fuerit:
furatur enim ut esurientem impleat animam;
31 deprehensus quoque reddet septuplum,
et omnem substantiam domus suæ tradet.
32 Qui autem adulter est,
propter cordis inopiam perdet animam suam;
33 turpitudinem et ignominiam congregat sibi,
et opprobrium illius non delebitur:
34 quia zelus et furor viri
non parcet in die vindictæ,
35 nec acquiescet cujusquam precibus,
nec suscipiet pro redemptione dona plurima.

Transcribed as part of the Clementine Vulgate Project
Please notify the original transcriber (little.mouth@soon.com) of any errors in this Latin edition

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