KJV ¹ My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

VULC ¹ [Fili mi, attende ad sapientiam meam,
et prudentiæ meæ inclina aurem tuam :

KJV ² That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

VULC ² ut custodias cogitationes, et disciplinam labia tua conservent.
Ne attendas fallaciæ mulieris ;

KJV ³ For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

VULC ³ favus enim distillans labia meretricis,
et nitidius oleo guttur ejus :

KJV ⁴ But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.

VULC ⁴ novissima autem illius amara quasi absinthium,
et acuta quasi gladius biceps.

KJV ⁵ Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

VULC ⁵ Pedes ejus descendunt in mortem,
et ad inferos gressus illius penetrant.

KJV ⁶ Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

VULC ⁶ Per semitam vitæ non ambulant ;
vagi sunt gressus ejus et investigabiles.

KJV ⁷ Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

VULC ⁷ Nunc ergo fili mi, audi me,
et ne recedas a verbis oris mei.

KJV ⁸ Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

VULC ⁸ Longe fac ab ea viam tuam,
et ne appropinques foribus domus ejus.

KJV ⁹ Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

VULC ⁹ Ne des alienis honorem tuum,
et annos tuos crudeli :

KJV ¹⁰ Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

VULC ¹⁰ ne forte impleantur extranei viribus tuis,
et labores tui sint in domo aliena,

KJV ¹¹ And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

VULC ¹¹ et gemas in novissimis,
quando consumpseris carnes tuas et corpus tuum,
et dicas :

KJV ¹² And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

VULC ¹² Cur detestatus sum disciplinam,
et increpationibus non acquievit cor meum,

KJV ¹³ And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

VULC ¹³ nec audivi vocem docentium me,
et magistris non inclinavi aurem meam ?

KJV ¹⁴ I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

VULC ¹⁴ pene fui in omni malo,
in medio ecclesiæ et synagogæ.

KJV ¹⁵ Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

VULC ¹⁵ Bibe aquam de cisterna tua,
et fluenta putei tui ;

KJV ¹⁶ Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

VULC ¹⁶ deriventur fontes tui foras,
et in plateis aquas tuas divide.

KJV ¹⁷ Let them be only thine own, and not strangers' with thee.

VULC ¹⁷ Habeto eas solus,
nec sint alieni participes tui.

KJV ¹⁸ Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

VULC ¹⁸ Sit vena tua benedicta,
et lætare cum muliere adolescentiæ tuæ.

KJV ¹⁹ Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

VULC ¹⁹ Cerva carissima, et gratissimus hinnulus :
ubera ejus inebrient te in omni tempore ;
in amore ejus delectare jugiter.

KJV ²⁰ And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

VULC ²⁰ Quare seduceris, fili mi, ab aliena,
et foveris in sinu alterius ?

KJV ²¹ For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he pondereth all his goings.

VULC ²¹ Respicit Dominus vias hominis,
et omnes gressus ejus considerat.

KJV ²² His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

VULC ²² Iniquitates suas capiunt impium,
et funibus peccatorum suorum constringitur.

KJV ²³ He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.

VULC ²³ Ipse morietur, quia non habuit disciplinam,
et in multitudine stultitiæ suæ decipietur.]