| 6 ζητήσεις σοφίαν παρὰ κακοῖς καὶ οὐχ εὑρήσεις αἴσθησις δὲ παρὰ φρονίμοις εὐχερής 7 πάντα ἐναντία ἀνδρὶ ἄφρονι ὅπλα δὲ αἰσθήσεως χείλη σοφά 8 σοφία πανούργων ἐπιγνώσεται τὰς ὁδοὺς αὐτῶν ἄνοια δὲ ἀφρόνων ἐν πλάνῃ 9 οἰκίαι παρανόμων ὀφειλήσουσιν καθαρισμόν οἰκίαι δὲ δικαίων δεκταί |
6 Vainly the rash aspire to wisdom; the discerning come by their knowledge with little pains. 7 Go thy way, and let the fool go his; good sense is a strange language to him. 8 Prudence picks its way wisely; the fool blunders and is lost. 9 Fools make light of the guilt that needs atonement, and leave honest men to enjoy the Lord’s favour.[2] |
6
Quærit derisor sapientiam, et non invenit;
doctrina prudentium facilis. 7
Vade contra virum stultum,
et nescit labia prudentiæ. 8
Sapientia callidi est intelligere viam suam,
et imprudentia stultorum errans. 9
Stultus illudet peccatum,
et inter justos morabitur gratia. |
| 15 ἄκακος πιστεύει παντὶ λόγῳ πανοῦργος δὲ ἔρχεται εἰς μετάνοιαν 16 σοφὸς φοβηθεὶς ἐξέκλινεν ἀπὸ κακοῦ ὁ δὲ ἄφρων ἑαυτῷ πεποιθὼς μείγνυται ἀνόμῳ 17 ὀξύθυμος πράσσει μετὰ ἀβουλίας ἀνὴρ δὲ φρόνιμος πολλὰ ὑποφέρει 18 μεριοῦνται ἄφρονες κακίαν οἱ δὲ πανοῦργοι κρατήσουσιν αἰσθήσεως |
15 The simpleton takes all on trust; wisdom considers each step. (A treacherous son no part shall have; better shall a wise servant thrive and prosper.[3]) 16 Caution teaches the wise to shun danger; the fool is carried away by rash confidence. 17 The impatient man blunders, as surely as the schemer makes enemies. 18 Folly is the simpleton’s heirloom; skill crowns the wise. |
15
Innocens credit omni verbo;
astutus considerat gressus suos.
Filio doloso nihil erit boni;
servo autem sapienti prosperi erunt actus,
et dirigetur via ejus. 16
Sapiens timet, et declinat a malo;
stultus transilit, et confidit. 17
Impatiens operabitur stultitiam,
et vir versutus odiosus est. 18
Possidebunt parvuli stultitiam,
et exspectabunt astuti scientiam. |
[1] The sense of the Hebrew text is plain; the God-fearing are the right-living, the despisers of God are revealed by their treacherous conduct. The Latin version makes the whole verse into a single sentence, which says that the God-fearing and right-living man is despised by, or (possibly) despises, the treacherous.
[2] The first half of this verse is obscure in the Hebrew text. ‘The Lord’s favour’; literally, ‘favour’; if the two halves of the verse are to be parallel, divine favour must be meant.
[3] The words enclosed in brackets do not appear in the Hebrew text; they occur in the Septuagint Greek after verse 13 of the foregoing chapter.
[4] The words printed in brackets are peculiar to the Latin.
[5] Cf. 13.14 above.
[6] In the second half of the verse, the Hebrew text appears to mean, ‘and in the inmost being of fools it makes itself known’; it is perhaps corrupt. The Latin version runs ‘and it will instruct all fools’, probably a copyist’s error for ‘And it will instruct even fools’.
Knox Translation Copyright © 2013 Westminster Diocese
Nihil Obstat. Father Anton Cowan, Censor.
Imprimatur. +Most Rev. Vincent Nichols, Archbishop of Westminster. 8th January 2012.
Re-typeset and published in 2012 by Baronius Press Ltd