Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
Whanne thou sittist, to ete with the prince, perseyue thou diligentli what thingis ben set bifore thi face,
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
and sette thou a withholding in thi throte. If netheles thou hast power on thi soule,
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
desire thou not of his metis, in whom is the breed of `a leesing.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Nyle thou trauele to be maad riche, but sette thou mesure to thi prudence.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Reise not thin iyen to richessis, whiche thou maist not haue; for tho schulen make to hem silf pennes, as of an egle, and tho schulen flee in to heuene.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
Ete thou not with an enuyouse man, and desire thou not hise metis;
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
for at the licnesse of a fals dyuynour and of a coniectere, he gessith that, that he knowith not. He schal seie to thee, Ete thou and drinke; and his soule is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
Thou schalt brake out the metis, whiche thou hast ete; and thou schalt leese thi faire wordis.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Speke thou not in the eeris of vnwise men; for thei schulen dispise the teching of thi speche.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
Touche thou not the termes of litle children; and entre thou not in to the feeld of fadirles and modirles children.
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
For the neiybore of hem is strong, and he schal deme her cause ayens thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Thin herte entre to techyng, and thin eeris `be redi to the wordis of kunnyng.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Nile thou withdrawe chastisyng fro a child; for thouy thou smyte hym with a yerde, he schal not die.
Thou schalt smyte hym with a yerde, and thou schalt delyuere his soule fro helle. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
Mi sone, if thi soule is wijs, myn herte schal haue ioye with thee;
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
and my reynes schulen make ful out ioye, whanne thi lippis speken riytful thing.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of Yhwh all the day long.
Thin herte sue not synneris; but be thou in the drede of the Lord al dai.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
For thou schalt haue hope at the laste, and thin abidyng schal not be don awei.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Mi sone, here thou, and be thou wijs, and dresse thi soule in the weie.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Nyle thou be in the feestis of drinkeris, nether in the ofte etyngis of hem, that bryngen togidere fleischis to ete.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
For men yyuynge tent to drinkis, and yyuyng mussels togidere, schulen be waastid, and napping schal be clothid with clothis.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Here thi fadir, that gendride thee; and dispise not thi modir, whanne sche is eld.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Bie thou treuthe, and nyle thou sille wisdom, and doctryn, and vndurstonding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
The fadir of a iust man ioieth ful out with ioie; he that gendride a wijs man, schal be glad in hym.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
Thi fadir and thi modir haue ioye, and he that gendride thee, make ful out ioye.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My sone, yyue thin herte to me, and thin iyen kepe my weyes.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For an hoore is a deep diche, and an alien womman is a streit pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
Sche settith aspie in the weie, as a theef; and sche schal sle hem, whiche sche schal se vnwar.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
To whom is wo? to whos fadir is wo? to whom ben chidingis? to whom ben dichis? to whom ben woundis with out cause? to whom is puttyng out of iyen?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
Whether not to hem, that dwellen in wyn, and studien to drynke al of cuppis?
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Biholde thou not wyn, whanne it sparclith, whanne the colour therof schyneth in a ver.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
It entrith swetli, but at the laste it schal bite as an eddre doith, and as a cocatrice it schal schede abrood venyms.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Thin iyen schulen se straunge wymmen, and thi herte schal speke weiwerd thingis.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
And thou schalt be as a man slepinge in the myddis of the see, and as a gouernour aslepid, whanne the steere is lost.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
And thou schalt seie, Thei beeten me, but Y hadde not sorewe; thei drowen me, and Y feelide not; whanne schal Y wake out, and Y schal fynde wynes eft?
