HOLY BIBLE: Wisdom 8 (original) (raw)

9 ἔκρινα τοίνυν ταύτην ἀγαγέσθαι πρὸς συμβίωσιν εἰδὼς ὅτι ἔσται μοι σύμβουλος ἀγαθῶν καὶ παραίνεσις φροντίδων καὶ λύπης 10 ἕξω δ{I'} αὐτὴν δόξαν ἐν ὄχλοις καὶ τιμὴν παρὰ πρεσβυτέροις ὁ νέος 11 ὀξὺς εὑρεθήσομαι ἐν κρίσει καὶ ἐν ὄψει δυναστῶν θαυμασθήσομαι 12 σιγῶντά με περιμενοῦσιν καὶ φθεγγομένῳ προσέξουσιν καὶ λαλοῦντος ἐπὶ πλεῖον χεῖρα ἐπιθήσουσιν ἐπὶ στόμα αὐτῶν 13 ἕξω δ{I'} αὐτὴν ἀθανασίαν καὶ μνήμην αἰώνιον τοῖς με{T'} ἐμὲ ἀπολείψω 14 διοικήσω λαούς καὶ ἔθνη ὑποταγήσεταί μοι 15 φοβηθήσονταί με ἀκούσαντες τύραννοι φρικτοί ἐν πλήθει φανοῦμαι ἀγαθὸς καὶ ἐν πολέμῳ ἀνδρεῖος 16 εἰσελθὼν εἰς τὸν οἶκόν μου προσαναπαύσομαι αὐτῇ οὐ γὰρ ἔχει πικρίαν ἡ συναναστροφὴ αὐτῆς οὐδὲ ὀδύνην ἡ συμβίωσις αὐτῆς ἀλλὰ εὐφροσύνην καὶ χαράν

9 Her, then, I would take to myself, to share my home; to be my counsellor in prosperity, my solace in anxiety and grief. 10 Through her (said I) I shall win fame in the assembly, find honour, though so young, amidst the elders. 11 If I sit in judgement, quick wit shall be mine, that shall strike awe into the princes when I appear before them, the admiration of the great. 12 Am I silent? They wait my leisure; speak I, they take heed; flows my speech on, they listen, hand on lip. 13 She, too, will bring me immortality; imperishable the name I shall leave to after ages. 14 Mine to rule peoples, and have nations at my call; 15 dread tyrants to daunt by the very name of me, the name of a king so loved by his people, so brave in battle. 16 Then home again, to rest upon her bosom; no shrewish mate, no tedious housewife, joy and contentment all of her.

9
Proposui ergo hanc adducere mihi ad convivendum,
sciens quoniam mecum communicabit de bonis,
et erit allocutio cogitationis et tædii mei. 10
Habebo propter hanc claritatem ad turbas,
et honorem apud seniores juvenis; 11
et acutus inveniar in judicio,
et in conspectu potentium admirabilis ero,
et facies principum mirabuntur me: 12
tacentem me sustinebunt,
et loquentem me respicient,
et sermocinante me plura, manus ori suo imponent. 13
Præterea habebo per hanc immortalitatem,
et memoriam æternam his qui post me futuri sunt relinquam. 14
Disponam populos,
et nationes mihi erunt subditæ: 15
timebunt me audientes reges horrendi.
In multitudine videbor bonus,
et in bello fortis. 16
Intrans in domum meam, conquiescam cum illa:
non enim habet amaritudinem conversatio illius,
nec tædium convictus illius,
sed lætitiam et gaudium.

[1] The exact meaning of verses 3 and 4 is uncertain.

[2] Or perhaps, ‘Who but she is the contriver of all that is?’

[3] The Greek would naturally be taken to mean, ‘Or rather, gentle birth had endowed me …’. But it is difficult to institute the desired contrast between this and the preceding verse, whatever rendering of them is adopted. The translation given above assumes that ‘good’ means ‘nobly born’, which is the primary sense of the word in Greek. Literally, ‘And being more good I came into an undefiled body’.

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