Proverbs 5
1 My son, to my wisdom, attend, and, to mine understanding, incline thou thine ear:
Mi sone, perseyue thou my wisdom, and bowe doun thin eere to my prudence; that thou kepe thi thouytis,
2 That thou mayest preserve discretion, —and, as for knowledge, that thy lips may guard it.
and thi lippis kepe teching. Yyue thou not tent to the falsnesse of a womman;
3 For, with sweet droppings, drip the lips of her that is a stranger, and, smoother than oil, is her mouth;
for the lippis of an hoore ben an hony coomb droppinge, and hir throte is clerere than oile;
4 But, the latter end of her, is bitter as wormwood, sharp, as a two-edged sword!
but the last thingis ben bittir as wormod, and hir tunge is scharp as a swerd keruynge on ech side.
Hir feet gon doun in to deeth; and hir steppis persen to hellis. (Sheol h7585)
6 Lest, the path of life, she should ponder, her tracks have wandered she knoweth not [whither].
Tho goon not bi the path of lijf; hir steppis ben vncerteyn, and moun not be souyt out.
7 Now, therefore, ye sons, hearken unto me, and do not turn away from the sayings of my mouth.
Now therfor, my sone, here thou me, and go not awei fro the wordis of my mouth.
8 Keep far from her thy way, and do not go near the opening of her house:
Make fer thi weie fro hir, and neiye thou not to the doris of hir hous.
9 Lest thou give, to other men, thy vigour, and thy years, to him that is cruel:
Yyue thou not thin onour to aliens, and thi yeeris to the cruel;
10 Lest strange men, be well fed, by thy strength, and, thy toils, be in the house of the alien.
lest perauenture straungeris be fillid with thi strengthis, and lest thi trauels be in an alien hous;
11 So shalt thou grieve in thy latter end, in the failing of thy flesh and of thy healthy condition;
and thou biweile in the laste daies, whanne thou hast wastid thi fleschis, and thi bodi; and thou seie,
12 And thou shalt say—How I hated correction! and, reproof, my heart disdained;
Whi wlatide Y teching, and myn herte assentide not to blamyngis;
13 Neither hearkened I to the voice of my teachers, nor, to my instructors, inclined I mine ear:
nether Y herde the voys of men techinge me, and Y bowide not doun myn eere to maistris?
14 Soon was I in all evil, in the midst of convocation and assembly.
Almest Y was in al yuel, in the myddis of the chirche, and of the synagoge.
15 Drink thou water out of thine own cistern, and flowing streams out of the midst of thine own well.
Drinke thou watir of thi cisterne, and the floodis of thi pit.
16 Let not thy fountains, flow over, abroad, in the streets, dividings of waters:
Thi wellis be stremed forth; and departe thi watris in stretis.
17 Let them be for thyself, alone, and not for strangers with thee.
Haue thou aloone `tho watris; and aliens be not thi parceneris.
18 Let thy well-spring be blessed, —and get thy joy from the wife of thy youth: —
Thi veyne be blessid; and be thou glad with the womman of thi yong wexynge age.
19 A loving hind! a graceful doe! let, her bosom, content thee at all times, and, in her love, mayst thou stray evermore.
An hynde moost dereworthe; and an hert calf moost acceptable. Hir teetis fille thee in al tyme; and delite thou contynueli in the loue of hir.
20 Wherefore, then, shouldst thou stray, my son, with a strange woman? or embrace the bosom of a woman unknown?
Mi sone, whi art thou disseyued of an alien womman; and art fostrid in the bosum of an othere?
21 For, before the eyes of Yahweh, are the ways of a man, —and, all his tracks, doth he consider:
The Lord seeth the weie of a man; and biholdith alle hise steppis.
22 His own iniquities, shall entrap him with the lawless, and, by the cords of his own sin, shall he be seized.
The wickidnessis of a wyckid man taken hym; and he is boundun with the roopis of hise synnes.
23 He, shall die, for lack of discipline, and, by the abounding of his perversity, shall he be lost.
He schal die, for he hadde not lernyng; and he schal be disseyued in the mychilnesse of his fooli.
