| | | English | Latin |
| 4 | 1 | Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend, that you may know prudence. | audite filii disciplinam patris et adtendite ut sciatis prudentiam |
| 4 | 2 | I will give you a good gift, forsake not my law. | donum bonum tribuam vobis legem meam ne derelinquatis |
| 4 | 3 | For I also was my father's son, tender, and as an only son in the sight of my mother: | nam et ego filius fui patris mei tenellus et unigenitus coram matre mea |
| 4 | 4 | And he taught me, and said: Let thy heart receive my words, keep my commandments, and thou shalt live. | et docebat me atque dicebat suscipiat verba mea cor tuum custodi praecepta mea et vives |
| 4 | 5 | Get wisdom, get prudence: forget not, neither decline from the words of my mouth. | posside sapientiam posside prudentiam ne obliviscaris neque declines a verbis oris mei |
| 4 | 6 | Forsake her not, and she shall keep thee: love her, and she shall preserve thee. | ne dimittas eam et custodiet te dilige eam et servabit te |
| 4 | 7 | The beginning of wisdom, get wisdom, and with all thy possession purchase prudence. | principium sapientiae posside sapientiam et in omni possessione tua adquire prudentiam |
| 4 | 8 | Take hold on her, and she shall exalt thee: thou shalt be glorified by her, when thou shalt embrace her. | arripe illam et exaltabit te glorificaberis ab ea cum eam fueris amplexatus |
| 4 | 9 | She shall give to thy head increase of graces, and protect thee with a noble crown. | dabit capiti tuo augmenta gratiarum et corona inclita proteget te |
| 4 | 10 | Hear, O my son, and receive my words, that years of life may be multiplied to thee. | audi fili mi et suscipe verba mea ut multiplicentur tibi anni vitae |
| 4 | 11 | I will shew thee the way of wisdom, I will lead thee by the paths of equity: | viam sapientiae monstravi tibi duxi te per semitas aequitatis |
| 4 | 12 | Which when thou shalt have entered, thy steps shall not be straitened, and when thou runnest, thou shalt not meet a stumblingblock. | quas cum ingressus fueris non artabuntur gressus tui et currens non habebis offendiculum |
| 4 | 13 | Take hold on instruction, leave it not: keep it, because it is thy life. | tene disciplinam ne dimittas eam custodi illam quia ipsa est vita tua |
| 4 | 14 | Be not delighted in the paths of the wicked, neither let the way of evil men please thee. | ne delecteris semitis impiorum nec tibi placeat malorum via |
| 4 | 15 | Flee from it, pass not by it: go aside, and forsake it. | fuge ab ea ne transeas per illam declina et desere eam |
| 4 | 16 | For they sleep not, except they have done evil: and their sleep is taken away unless they have made some to fall. | non enim dormiunt nisi malefecerint et rapitur somnus ab eis nisi subplantaverint |
| 4 | 17 | They eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of iniquity. | comedunt panem impietatis et vinum iniquitatis bibunt |
| 4 | 18 | But the path of the just, as a shining light, goeth forwards, and increaseth even to perfect day. | iustorum autem semita quasi lux splendens procedit et crescit usque ad perfectam diem |
| 4 | 19 | The way of the wicked is darksome: they know not where they fall. | via impiorum tenebrosa nesciunt ubi corruant |
| 4 | 20 | My son, hearken to my words, and incline thy ear to my sayings. | fili mi ausculta sermones meos et ad eloquia mea inclina aurem tuam |
| 4 | 21 | Let them not depart from thy eyes, keep them in the midst of thy heart: | ne recedant ab oculis tuis custodi ea in medio cordis tui |
| 4 | 22 | For they are life to those that find them, and health to all flesh. | vita enim sunt invenientibus ea et universae carni sanitas |
| 4 | 23 | With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it. | omni custodia serva cor tuum quia ex ipso vita procedit |
| 4 | 24 | Remove from thee a froward mouth, and let detracting lips be far from thee. | remove a te os pravum et detrahentia labia sint procul a te |
| 4 | 25 | Let thy eyes look straight on, and let thy eyelids go before thy steps. | oculi tui recta videant et palpebrae tuae praecedant gressus tuos |
| 4 | 26 | Make straight the path for thy feet, and all thy ways shall be established. | dirige semitam pedibus tuis et omnes viae tuae stabilientur |
| 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. | ne declines ad dexteram et ad sinistram averte pedem tuum a malo |