Proverbs 7
1 My son, keep my sayings, and, my commandments, treasure by thee;
Mi sone, kepe thou my wordis; and kepe myn heestis to thee. Sone, onoure thou the Lord, and thou schalt be `myyti; but outakun hym drede thou not an alien.
2 Keep my commandments and live, and mine instruction, as the pupil of thine eye;
Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.
3 Bind them upon thy fingers, write them, on the tablet of thy heart;
Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.
4 Say unto wisdom, My sister, thou! and, an acquaintance, call thou, understanding:
Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.
5 That thou mayest be kept, from the woman that is a stranger, from the female unknown, who, with her speeches, doth flatter.
That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.
6 For, in the window of my house, through my lattice, I looked out;
For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.
7 And saw among the simple ones, discerned among the youths, A young man lacking sense;
I biholde a yong man coward,
8 Passing through the street, near her corner, and, on the way to her house, he sauntered along;
that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he
9 In the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the midst of the night, and the gloom;
goith niy the weie of hir hous in derk tyme, whanne the dai drawith to niyt, in the derknessis and myst of the nyyt.
10 And lo! a woman, came to meet him, attired as one unchaste, of a wily heart.
And lo! a womman, maad redi with ournement of an hoore to disseyue soulis, meetith hym, and sche is a ianglere, and goynge about,
11 Boisterous, is she, and rebellious, In her house, abide not her feet;
and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
12 Now outside, now in the broadways, and, near every corner, she lieth in wait:
and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
13 So she caught him, and kissed him, and, embolding her face, she said to him:
And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;
14 Peace-offerings, are by me, to-day, have I paid my vows;
to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
15 For this cause, came I forth to meet thee, to seek diligently thy face, and I have found thee:
Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.
16 Coverlets, have I spread on my couch of pleasure, dark-hued stuffs, of the yarn of Egypt;
Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;
17 I have sprinkled my bed, with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon:
Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
18 Come! let us take our fill of endearments, until morning, let us delight ourselves with caresses;
Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.
19 For the husband is not in his house, he hath gone on a journey afar;
For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
20 A bag of silver, hath he taken in his hand, On the day of the full moon, will he enter his house.
He took with hym a bagge of money; he schal turne ayen in to his hous in the dai of ful moone.
21 She turneth him aside, with her great persuasiveness, —with the flattery of her lips, she compelleth him:
Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
22 Going after her instantly, as an ox, to the slaughter, he entereth, and, as in fetters, unto the correction of a fool.
Anoon he as an oxe led to slayn sacrifice sueth hir, and as a ioli lomb and vnkunnynge; and the fool woot not, that he is drawun to bondys,
23 Until an arrow cleaveth his liver, as a bird hasteth into a snare, and knoweth not, that, for his life, it is!
til an arowe perse his mawe. As if a brid hastith to the snare; and woot not, that it is don of the perel of his lijf.
24 Now, therefore, ye sons, hearken unto me, and attend, to the sayings of my mouth;
Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
25 Let not thy heart, turn aside to her ways, Do not go astray, in her paths.
Lest thi soule be drawun awei in the weies of hir; nether be thou disseyued in the pathis of hir.
26 For, many, wounded, hath she caused to fall, —yea strong men, slain wholly by her:
For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.
