Proverbs Chapter 24

English (Douay-Rheims)

1 Seek not to be like evil men, neither desire to be with them:
2 Because their mind studieth robberies, and their lips speak deceits.
3 By wisdom the house shall be built, and by prudence it shall be strengthened.
4 By instruction the storerooms shall be filled with all precious and most beautiful wealth.
5 A wise man is strong: and a knowing man, stout and valiant.
6 Because war is managed by due ordering: and there shall be safety where there are many counsels.
7 Wisdom is too high for a fool; in the gate he shall not open his mouth.
8 He that deviseth to do evils, shall be called a fool.
9 The thought of a fool is sin: and the detractor is the abomination of men.
10 If thou lose hope, being weary in the day of distress, thy strength shall be diminished.

11 Deliver them that are led to death: and those that are drawn to death, forbear not to deliver.
12 If thou say: I have not strength enough: he that seeth into the heart, he understandeth, and nothing deceiveth the keeper of thy soul, and he shall render to a man according to his works.
13 Eat honey, my son, because it is good, and the honeycomb most sweet to thy throat.
14 So also is the doctrine of wisdom to thy soul: which when thou hast found, thou shalt have hope in the end, and thy hope shall not perish.
15 Lie not in wait, nor seek after wickedness in the house of the just, nor spoil his rest.
16 For a just man shall fall seven times, and shall rise again: but the wicked shall fall down into evil.
17 When thy enemy shall fall, be not glad, and in his ruin let not thy heart rejoice:
18 Lest the Lord see, and it displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.
19 Contend not with the wicked, nor seek to be like the ungodly.
20 For evil men have no hope of things to come, and the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
21 My son, fear the Lord, and the king: and have nothing to do with detractors.
22 For their destruction shall rise suddenly: and who knoweth the ruin of both?

23 These things also to the wise:

It is not good to have respect to persons in judgment.
24 They that say to the wicked man: Thou art just: shall be cursed by the people, and the tribes shall abhor them.
25 They that rebuke him shall be praised: and a blessing shall come upon them.
26 He shall kiss the lips, who answereth right words.
27 Prepare thy work without, and diligently till thy ground: that afterward thou mayst build thy house.
28 Be not witness without cause against thy neighbour: and deceive not any man with thy lips.
29 Say not: I will do to him as he hath done to me: I will render to every one according to his work.

30 I passed by the field of the slothful man, and by the vineyard of the foolish man:
31 And behold it was all filled with nettles, and thorns had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall was broken down.
32 Which when I had seen, I laid it up in my heart, and by the example I received instruction.
33 Thou wilt sleep a little, said I, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt fold thy hands a little to rest.
34 And poverty shall come to thee as a runner, and beggary as an armed man.

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 Ne æmuleris viros malos,
nec desideres esse cum eis:
2 quia rapinas meditatur mens eorum,
et fraudes labia eorum loquuntur.
3 Sapientia ædificabitur domus,
et prudentia roborabitur.
4 In doctrina replebuntur cellaria,
universa substantia pretiosa et pulcherrima.
5 Vir sapiens fortis est,
et vir doctus robustus et validus:
6 quia cum dispositione initur bellum,
et erit salus ubi multa consilia sunt.
7 Excelsa stulto sapientia;
in porta non aperiet os suum.
8 Qui cogitat mala facere stultus vocabitur:
9 cogitatio stulti peccatum est,
et abominatio hominum detractor.
10 Si desperaveris lassus in die angustiæ,
imminuetur fortitudo tua.

11 Erue eos qui ducuntur ad mortem,
et qui trahuntur ad interitum, liberare ne cesses.
12 Si dixeris: Vires non suppetunt;
qui inspector est cordis ipse intelligit:
et servatorem animæ tuæ nihil fallit,
reddetque homini juxta opera sua.
13 Comede, fili mi, mel, quia bonum est,
et favum dulcissimum gutturi tuo.
14 Sic et doctrina sapientiæ animæ tuæ:
quam cum inveneris, habebis in novissimis spem,
et spes tua non peribit.
15 Ne insidieris, et quæras impietatem in domo justi,
neque vastes requiem ejus.
16 Septies enim cadet justus, et resurget:
impii autem corruent in malum.
17 Cum ceciderit inimicus tuus ne gaudeas,
et in ruina ejus ne exsultet cor tuum:
18 ne forte videat Dominus, et displiceat ei,
et auferat ab eo iram suam.
19 Ne contendas cum pessimis,
nec æmuleris impios:
20 quoniam non habent futurorum spem mali,
et lucerna impiorum extinguetur.
21 Time Dominum, fili mi, et regem,
et cum detractoribus non commiscearis:
22 quoniam repente consurget perditio eorum,
et ruinam utriusque quis novit?

23 Hæc quoque sapientibus.

Cognoscere personam in judicio non est bonum.
24 Qui dicunt impio: Justus es: maledicent eis populi,
et detestabuntur eos tribus.
25 Qui arguunt eum laudabuntur,
et super ipsos veniet benedictio.
26 Labia deosculabitur
qui recta verba respondet.
27 Præpara foris opus tuum,
et diligenter exerce agrum tuum,
ut postea ædifices domum tuam.
28 Ne sis testis frustra contra proximum tuum,
nec lactes quemquam labiis tuis.
29 Ne dicas: Quomodo fecit mihi, sic faciam ei;
reddam unicuique secundum opus suum.

30 Per agrum hominis pigri transivi,
et per vineam viri stulti:
31 et ecce totum repleverant urticæ,
et operuerant superficiem ejus spinæ,
et maceria lapidum destructa erat.
32 Quod cum vidissem, posui in corde meo,
et exemplo didici disciplinam.
33 Parum, inquam, dormies, modicum dormitabis;
pauxillum manus conseres ut quiescas:
34 et veniet tibi quasi cursor egestas,
et mendicitas quasi vir armatus.

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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