The Bible, Douay Rheims, Book 22: Proverbs
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This eBook was produced by David Widger [widger@cecomet.net]
from etext #1581 prepared by Dennis McCarthy, Atlanta, Georgia
and Tad Book, student, Pontifical North American College, Rome.
THE HOLY BIBLE
Translated from the Latin Vulgate
Diligently Compared with the Hebrew, Greek,
and Other Editions in Divers Languages
THE OLD TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Douay
A.D. 1609 & 1610
and
THE NEW TESTAMENT
First Published by the English College at Rheims
A.D. 1582
With Annotations
The Whole Revised and Diligently Compared with
the Latin Vulgate by Bishop Richard Challoner
A.D. 1749-1752
THE BOOK OF PROVERBS
This Book is so called, because it consists of wise and weighty
sentences: regulating the morals of men: and directing them to wisdom
and virtue. And these sentences are also called PARABLES, because great
truths are often couched in them under certain figures and similitudes.
Proverbs Chapter 1
The use and end of the proverbs. An exhortation to flee the company of
the wicked: and to hearken to the voice of wisdom.
1:1. The parables of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel,
1:2. To know wisdom, and instruction:
1:3. To understand the words of prudence: and to receive the instruction
of doctrine, justice, and judgment, and equity:
1:4. To give subtilty to little ones, to the young man knowledge and
understanding.
1:5. A wise man shall hear, and shall be wiser: and he that
understandeth shall possess governments.
1:6. He shall understand a parable and the interpretation, the words of
the wise, and their mysterious sayings.
1:7. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Fools despise
wisdom and instruction.
1:8. My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law
of thy mother:
1:9. That grace may be added to thy head, and a chain of gold to thy
neck.
1:10. My son, if sinners shall entice thee, consent not to them.
1:11. If they shall say: Come with us, let us lie in wait for blood, let
us hide snares for the innocent without cause:
1:12. Let us swallow him up alive like hell, and whole as one that goeth
down into the pit.
1:13. We shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses
with spoils.
1:14. Cast in thy lot with us, let us all have one purse.
1:15. My son, walk not thou with them, restrain thy foot from their
paths.
1:16. For their feet run to evil, and make haste to shed blood.
1:17. But a net is spread in vain before the eyes of them that have
wings.
1:18. And they themselves lie in wait for their own blood, and practise
deceits against their own souls.
1:19. So the ways of every covetous man destroy the souls of the
possessors.
1:20. Wisdom preacheth abroad, she uttereth her voice in the streets:
1:21. At the head of multitudes she crieth out, in the entrance of the
gates of the city she uttereth her words, saying:
1:22. O children, how long will you love childishness, and fools covet
those things which are hurtful to themselves, and the unwise hate
knowledge?
1:23. Turn ye at my reproof: behold I will utter my spirit to you, and
will shew you my words.
1:24. Because I called, and you refused: I stretched out my hand, and
there was none that regarded.
1:25. You have despised all my counsel, and have neglected my
reprehensions.
1:26. I also will laugh in your destruction, and will mock when that
shall come to you which you feared.
1:27. When sudden calamity shall fall on you, and destruction, as a
tempest, shall be at hand: when tribulation and distress shall come upon
you:
1:28. Then shall they call upon me, and I will not hear: they shall rise
in the morning, and shall not find me:
1:29. Because they have hated instruction, and received not the fear of
the Lord,
1:30. Nor consented to my counsel, but despised all my reproof.
1:31. Therefore they shall eat the fruit of their own way, and shall be
filled with their own devices.
1:32. The turning away of little ones shall kill them, and the
prosperity of fools shall destroy them.
1:33. But he that shall hear me, shall rest without terror, and shall
enjoy abundance, without fear of evils.
Proverbs Chapter 2
The advantages of wisdom: and the evils from which it delivers.
2:1. My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and wilt hide my
commandments with thee,
2:2. That thy ear may hearken to wisdom: incline thy heart to know
prudence.
2:3. For if thou shalt call for wisdom, and incline thy heart to
prudence:
2:4. If thou shalt seek her as money, and shalt dig for her as for a
treasure:
2:5. Then shalt thou understand the fear of the Lord, and shalt find the
knowledge of God:
2:6. Because the Lord giveth wisdom: and out of his mouth cometh
prudence and knowledge.
2:7. He wilt keep the salvation of the righteous, and protect them that
walk in simplicity,
2:8. Keeping the paths of justice, and guarding the ways of saints.
2:9. Then shalt thou understand justice, and judgment, and equity, and
every good path.
2:10. If wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge please thy
soul:
2:11. Counsel shall keep thee, and prudence shall preserve thee,
2:12. That thou mayst be delivered from the evil way, and from the man
that speaketh perverse things:
2:13. Who leave the right way, and walk by dark ways:
2:14. Who are glad when they have done evil, and rejoice in the most
wicked things:
2:15. Whose ways are perverse, and their steps infamous.
2:16. That thou mayst be delivered from the strange woman, and from the
stranger, who softeneth her words;
2:17. And forsaketh the guide of her youth,
2:18. And hath forgotten the covenant of her God: for her house
inclineth unto death, and her paths to hell.
2:19. None that go in unto her, shall return again, neither shall they
take hold of the paths of life.
2:20. That thou mayst walk in a good way: and mayst keep the paths of
the just.
2:21. For they that are upright, shall dwell in the earth; and the
simple shall continue in it.
2:22. But the wicked shall be destroyed from the earth: and they that do
unjustly, shall be taken away from it.
Proverbs Chapter 3
An exhortation to the practice of virtue.
3:1. My son, forget not my law, and let thy heart keep my commandments.
3:2. For they shall add to thee length of days, and years of life, and
peace.
3:3. Let not mercy and truth leave thee, put them about thy neck, and
write them in the tables of thy heart.
3:4. And thou shalt find grace, and good understanding before God and
men.
3:5. Have confidence in the Lord with all thy heart, and lean not upon
thy own prudence.
3:6. In all thy ways think on him, and he will direct thy steps.
3:7. Be not wise in thy own conceit: fear God, and depart from evil:
3:8. For it shall be health to thy navel, and moistening to thy bones.
3:9. Honour the Lord with thy substance, and give him of the first of
all thy fruits;
3:10. And thy barns shall be filled with abundance, and thy presses
shall run over with wine.
3:11. My son, reject not the correction of the Lord: and do not faint
when thou art chastised by him:
3:12. For whom the Lord loveth, he chastiseth: and as a father in the
son he pleaseth himself.
3:13. Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, and is rich in prudence:
3:14. The purchasing thereof is better than the merchandise of silver,
and her fruit than the chief and purest gold:
3:15. She is more precious than all riches: and all the things that are
desired, are not to be compared to her.
3:16. Length of days is in her right hand, and in her left hand riches
and glory.
3:17. Her ways are beautiful ways, and all her paths are peaceable.
3:18. She is a tree of life to them that lay hold on her: and he that
shall retain her is blessed.
3:19. The Lord by wisdom hath founded the earth, hath established the
heavens by prudence.
3:20. By his wisdom the depths have broken out, and the clouds grow
thick with dew.
3:21. My son, let not these things depart from thy eyes: keep the law
and counsel:
3:22. And there shall be life to thy soul, and grace to thy mouth.
3:23. Then shalt thou walk confidently in thy way, and thy foot shall
not stumble:
3:24. If thou sleep, thou shalt not fear: thou shalt rest, and thy sleep
shall be sweet.
3:25. Be not afraid of sudden fear, nor of the power of the wicked
falling upon thee.
3:26. For the Lord will be at thy side, and will keep thy foot that thou
be not taken.
3:27. Do not withhold him from doing good, who is able: if thou art
able, do good thyself also.
3:28. Say not to thy friend: Go, and come again: and to morrow I will
give to thee: when thou canst give at present.
3:29. Practise not evil against thy friend, when he hath confidence in
thee.
3:30. Strive not against a man without cause, when he hath done thee no
evil.
3:31. Envy not the unjust man, and do not follow his ways.
3:32. For every mocker is an abomination to the Lord, and his
communication is with the simple.
3:33. Want is from the Lord in the house of the wicked: but the
habitations of the just shall be blessed.
3:34. He shall scorn the scorners, and to the meek he will give grace.
3:35. The wise shall possess glory: the promotion of fools is disgrace.
Proverbs Chapter 4
A further exhortation to seek after wisdom.
4:1. Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend, that
you may know prudence.
4:2. I will give you a good gift, forsake not my law.
4:3. For I also was my father's son, tender, and as an only son in the
sight of my mother:
4:4. And he taught me, and said: Let thy heart receive my words, keep my
commandments, and thou shalt live.
4:5. Get wisdom, get prudence: forget not, neither decline from the
words of my mouth.
4:6. Forsake her not, and she shall keep thee: love her, and she shall
preserve thee.
4:7. The beginning of wisdom, get wisdom, and with all thy possession
purchase prudence.
4:8. Take hold on her, and she shall exalt thee: thou shalt be glorified
by her, when thou shalt embrace her.
4:9. She shall give to thy head increase of graces, and protect thee
with a noble crown.
4:10. Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be
multiplied to thee.
4:11. I will shew thee the way of wisdom, I will lead thee by the paths
of equity:
4:12. Which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be
straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet a stumblingblock.
4:13. Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy
life.
4:14. Be not delighted in the paths of the wicked, neither let the way
of evil men please thee.
4:15. Flee from it, pass not by it: go aside, and forsake it.
4:16. For they sleep not, except they have done evil: and their sleep is
taken away unless they have made some to fall.
4:17. They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of iniquity.
4:18. But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards, and
increaseth even to perfect day.
4:19. The way of the wicked is darksome: they know not where they fall.
4:20. My son, hearken to my words, and incline thy ear to my sayings.
4:21. Let them not depart from thy eyes, keep them in the midst of thy
heart:
4:22. For they are life to those that find them, and health to all
flesh.
4:23. With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out
from it.
4:24. Remove from thee a froward mouth, and let detracting lips be far
from thee.
4:25. Let thy eyes look straight on, and let thy eyelids go before thy
steps.
4:26. Make straight the path for thy feet, and all thy ways shall be
established.
4:27. Decline not to the right hand, nor to the left: turn away thy foot
from evil. For the Lord knoweth the ways that are on the right hand: but
those are perverse which are on the left hand. But he will make thy
courses straight, he will bring forward thy ways in peace.
Proverbs Chapter 5
An exhortation to fly unlawful lust, and the occasions of it.
5:1. My son, attend to my wisdom, and incline thy ear to my prudence,
5:2. That thou mayst keep thoughts, and thy lips may preserve
instruction. Mind not the deceit of a woman.
5:3. For the lips of a harlot are like a honeycomb dropping, and her
throat is smoother than oil.
5:4. But her end is bitter as wormwood, and sharp as a two-edged sword.
5:5. Her feet go down into death, and her steps go in as far as hell.
5:6. They walk not by the path of life, her steps are wandering, and
unaccountable.
5:7. Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and depart not from the words of
my mouth.
5:8. Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the doors of her
house.
5:9. Give not thy honour to strangers, and thy years to the cruel.
5:10. Lest strangers be filled with thy strength, and thy labours be in
another man's house,
5:11. And thou mourn at the last, when thou shalt have spent thy flesh
and thy body, and say;
5:12. Why have I hated instruction, and my heart consented not to
reproof,
5:13. And have not heard the voice of them that taught me, and have not
inclined my ear to masters?
5:14. I have almost been in all evil, in the midst of the church and of
the congregation.
5:15. Drink water out of thy own cistern, and the streams of thy own
well:
5:16. Let thy fountains be conveyed abroad, and in the streets divide
thy waters.
5:17. Keep them to thyself alone, neither let strangers be partakers
with thee.
5:18. Let thy vein be blessed, and rejoice with the wife of thy youth:
5:19. Let her be thy dearest hind, and most agreeable fawn: let her
breasts inebriate thee at all times: be thou delighted continually with
her love.
5:20. Why art thou seduced, my son, by a strange woman, and art
cherished in the bosom of another?
5:21. The Lord beholdeth the ways of man, and considereth all his steps.
5:22. His own iniquities catch the wicked, and he is fast bound with the
ropes of his own sins.
5:23. He shall die, because he hath not received instruction, and in the
multitude of his folly he shall be deceived.
Proverbs Chapter 6
Documents on several heads.
6:1. My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, thou hast engaged fast
thy hand to a stranger,
6:2. Thou art ensnared with the words of thy mouth, and caught with thy
own words.
6:3. 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:
6:4. Give not sleep to thy eyes, neither let thy eyelids slumber.
6:5. Deliver thyself as a doe from the hand, and as a bird from the hand
of the fowler.
6:6. Go to the ant, O sluggard, and consider her ways, and learn wisdom:
6:7. Which, although she hath no guide, nor master, nor captain,
6:8. Provideth her meat for herself in the summer, and gathereth her
food in the harvest.
6:9. How long wilt thou sleep, O sluggard? when wilt thou arise out of
thy sleep?
6:10. Thou wilt sleep a little, thou wilt slumber a little, thou wilt
fold thy hands a little to sleep:
6:11. 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.
6:12. A man that is an apostate, an unprofitable man, walketh with a
perverse mouth,
6:13. He winketh with the eyes, presseth with the foot, speaketh with
the finger.
6:14. With a wicked heart he deviseth evil, and at all times he soweth
discord.
6:15. To such a one his destruction shall presently come, and he shall
suddenly be destroyed, and shall no longer have any remedy.
6:16. Six things there are, which the Lord hateth, and the seventh his
soul detesteth:
6:17. Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
6:18. A heart that deviseth wicked plots, feet that are swift to run
into mischief,
6:19. A deceitful witness that uttereth lies, and him that soweth
discord among brethren.
6:20. My son, keep the commandments of thy father, and forsake not the
law of thy mother.
6:21. Bind them in thy heart continually, and put them about thy neck.
6:22. When thou walkest, let them go with thee: when thou sleepest, let
them keep thee, and when thou awakest, talk with them.
6:23. Because the commandment is a lamp, and the law a light, and
reproofs of instruction are the way of life:
6:24. That they may keep thee from the evil woman, and from the
flattering tongue of the stranger.
6:25. Let not thy heart covet her beauty, be not caught with her winks:
6:26. For the price of a harlot is scarce one loaf: but the woman
catcheth the precious soul of a man.
6:27. Can a man hide fire in his bosom, and his garments not burn?
6:28. Or can he walk upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt?
6:29. So he that goeth in to his neighbour's wife, shall not be clean
when he shall touch her.
6:30. 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.
6:31. And if he be taken, he shall restore sevenfold, and shall give up
all the substance of his house.
6:32. But he that is an adulterer, for the folly of his heart shall
destroy his own soul:
6:33. He gathereth to himself shame and dishonour, and his reproach
shall not be blotted out:
6:34. Because the jealousy and rage of the husband will not spare in the
day of revenge,
6:35. Nor will he yield to any man's prayers, nor will he accept for
satisfaction ever so many gifts.
Proverbs Chapter 7
The love of wisdom is the best preservative from being led astray by
temptation.
7:1. My son, keep my words, and lay up my precepts with thee. Son,
7:2. Keep my commandments, and thou shalt live: and my law as the apple
of thy eye:
7:3. Bind it upon thy fingers, write it upon the tables of thy heart.
7:4. Say to wisdom: Thou art my sister: and call prudence thy friend,
7:5. That she may keep thee from the woman that is not thine, and from
the stranger who sweeteneth her words.
7:6. For I looked out of the window of my house through the lattice,
7:7. And I see little ones, I behold a foolish young man,
7:8. Who passeth through the street by the corner, and goeth nigh the
way of her house,
7:9. In the dark when it grows late, in the darkness and obscurity of
the night.
7:10. And behold a woman meeteth him in harlot's attire, prepared to
deceive souls: talkative and wandering,
7:11. Not bearing to be quiet, not able to abide still at home,
7:12. Now abroad, now in the streets, now lying in wait near the
corners.
7:13. And catching the young man, she kisseth him, and with an impudent
face, flattereth, saying:
7:14. I vowed victims for prosperity, this day I have paid my vows.
7:15. Therefore I am come out to meet thee, desirous to see thee, and I
have found thee.
7:16. I have woven my bed with cords, I have covered it with painted
tapestry, brought from Egypt.
7:17. I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
7:18. Come, let us be inebriated with the breasts, and let us enjoy the
desired embraces, till the day appear.
7:19. For my husband is not at home, he is gone a very long journey.
7:20. He took with him a bag of money: he will return home the day of
the full moon.
7:21. She entangled him with many words, and drew him away with the
flattery of her lips.
7:22. Immediately he followeth her as an ox led to be a victim, and as a
lamb playing the wanton, and not knowing that he is drawn like a fool to
bonds,
7:23. Till the arrow pierce his liver: as if a bird should make haste to
the snare, and knoweth not that his life is in danger.
7:24. Now, therefore, my son, hear me, and attend to the words of my
mouth.
7:25. Let not thy mind be drawn away in her ways: neither be thou
deceived with her paths.
7:26. For she hath cast down many wounded, and the strongest have been
slain by her.
7:27. Her house is the way to hell, reaching even to the inner chambers
of death.
Proverbs Chapter 8
The preaching of wisdom. Her excellence.
8:1. Doth not wisdom cry aloud, and prudence put forth her voice?
8:2. Standing in the top of the highest places by the way, in the midst
of the paths,
8:3. Beside the gates of the city, in the very doors she speaketh,
saying:
8:4. O ye men, to you I call, and my voice is to the sons of men.
8:5. O little ones understand subtlety, and ye unwise, take notice.
8:6. Hear, for I will speak of great things: and my lips shall be opened
to preach right things.
8:7. My mouth shall meditate truth, and my lips shall hate wickedness.
8:8. All my words are just, there is nothing wicked, nor perverse in
them.
8:9. They are right to them that understand, and just to them that find
knowledge.
8:10. Receive my instruction, and not money: choose knowledge rather
than gold.
8:11. For wisdom is better than all the most precious things: and
whatsoever may be desired cannot be compared to it.
8:12. I, wisdom, dwell in counsel, and am present in learned thoughts.
8:13. The fear of the Lord hateth evil; I hate arrogance, and pride, and
every wicked way, and a mouth with a double tongue.
8:14. Counsel and equity is mine, prudence is mine, strength is mine.
8:15. By me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just things.
8:16. By me princes rule, and the mighty decree justice.
8:17. I love them that love me: and they that in the morning early watch
for me, shall find me.
8:18. With me are riches and glory, glorious riches and justice.
8:19. For my fruit is better than gold and the precious stone, and my
blossoms than choice silver.
8:20. I walk in the way of justice, in the midst of the paths of
judgment,
8:21. That I may enrich them that love me, and may fill their treasures.
8:22. The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways, before he made
any thing from the beginning.
8:23. I was set up from eternity, and of old, before the earth was made.
8:24. The depths were not as yet, and I was already conceived, neither
had the fountains of waters as yet sprung out.
8:25. The mountains, with their huge bulk, had not as yet been
established: before the hills, I was brought forth:
8:26. He had not yet made the earth, nor the rivers, nor the poles of
the world.
8:27. When he prepared the heavens, I was present: when with a certain
law, and compass, he enclosed the depths:
8:28. When he established the sky above, and poised the fountains of
waters:
8:29. When he compassed the sea with its bounds, and set a law to the
waters that they should not pass their limits: when he balanced the
foundations of the earth;
8:30. I was with him forming all things: and was delighted every day,
playing before him at all times;
8:31. Playing in the world: and my delights were to be with the children
of men.
8:32. Now, therefore, ye children, hear me: blessed are they that keep
my ways.
8:33. Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
8:34. Blessed is the man that heareth me, and that watcheth daily at my
gates, and waiteth at the posts of my doors.
8:35. He that shall find me, shall find life, and shall have salvation
from the Lord.
8:36. But he that shall sin against me shall hurt his own soul. All that
hate me love death.
Proverbs Chapter 9
Wisdom invites all to her feast. Folly calls another way.
9:1. Wisdom hath built herself a house, she hath hewn her out seven
pillars.
9:2. She hath slain her victims, mingled her wine, and set forth her
table.
9:3. She hath sent her maids to invite to the tower, and to the walls of
the city:
9:4. Whosoever is a little one, let him come to me. And to the unwise
she said:
9:5. Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mingled for
you.
9:6. Forsake childishness, and live, and walk by the ways of prudence.
9:7. He that teacheth a scorner, doth an injury to himself; and he that
rebuketh a wicked man, getteth himself a blot.
9:8. Rebuke not a scorner, lest he hate thee. Rebuke a wise man, and he
will love thee.
9:9. Give an occasion to a wise man, and wisdom shall be added to him.
Teach a just man, and he shall make haste to receive it.
9:10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge
of the holy is prudence.
9:11. For by me shall thy days be multiplied, and years of life shall be
added to thee.
9:12. If thou be wise, thou shalt be so to thyself: and if a scorner,
thou alone shalt bear the evil.
9:13. A foolish woman and clamorous, and full of allurements, and
knowing nothing at all,
9:14. Sat at the door of her house, upon a seat, in a high place of the
city,
9:15. To call them that pass by the way, and go on their journey:
9:16. He that is a little one, let him turn to me. And to the fool she
said:
9:17. Stolen waters are sweeter, and hidden bread is more pleasant.
9:18. And he did not know that giants are there, and that her guests are
in the depths of hell.