Proverbs 1
1 Proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel:
The parablis of Salomon, the sone of Dauid, king of Israel;
2 to know wisdom and instruction; to discern the words of understanding;
to kunne wisdom and kunnyng;
3 to receive the instruction of wisdom, righteousness and judgment, and equity;
to vndurstonde the wordis of prudence; and to take the lernyng of teching; to take riytfulnesse, and dom, and equyte;
4 to give prudence to the simple, to the young man knowledge and discretion.
that felnesse be youun to litle children, and kunnyng, and vndurstonding to a yong wexynge man.
5 He that is wise will hear, and will increase learning; and the intelligent will gain wise counsels:
A wise man heringe schal be wisere; and a man vndurstondinge schal holde gouernails.
6 to understand a proverb and an allegory, the words of the wise and their enigmas.
He schal perseyue a parable, and expownyng; the wordis of wise men, and the derk figuratif spechis of hem.
7 The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of knowledge: fools despise wisdom and instruction.
The drede of the Lord is the bigynning of wisdom; foolis dispisen wisdom and teching.
8 Hear, my son, the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the teaching of thy mother;
My sone, here thou the teching of thi fadir, and forsake thou not the lawe of thi modir;
9 for they shall be a garland of grace unto thy head, and chains about thy neck.
that grace be addid, ethir encreessid, to thin heed, and a bie to thi necke.
10 My son, if sinners entice thee, consent not.
Mi sone, if synneris flateren thee, assente thou not to hem.
11 If they say, Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk secretly for the innocent without cause;
If thei seien, Come thou with vs, sette we aspies to blood, hide we snaris of disseitis ayens an innocent without cause;
12 let us swallow them up alive as Sheol, and whole, as those that go down into the pit; (Sheol h7585)
swolowe we him, as helle swolowith a man lyuynge; and al hool, as goynge doun in to a lake; we schulen fynde al preciouse catel, (Sheol h7585)
13 we shall find all precious substance, we shall fill our houses with spoil:
we schulen fille oure housis with spuylis; sende thou lot with vs,
14 cast in thy lot among us; we will all have one purse:
o purs be of vs alle;
15 — my son, walk not in the way with them, keep back thy foot from their path;
my sone, go thou not with hem; forbede thi foot fro the pathis of hem.
16 for their feet run to evil, and they make haste to shed blood.
For the feet of hem rennen to yuel; and thei hasten to schede out blood.
17 For in vain the net is spread in the sight of anything which hath wings.
But a net is leid in veyn bifore the iyen of briddis, that han wengis.
18 And these lay wait for their own blood; they lurk secretly for their own lives.
Also `thilke wickid disseyueris setten aspies ayens her owne blood; and maken redi fraudis ayens her soulis.
19 So are the paths of every one that is greedy of gain: it taketh away the life of its possessors.
So the pathis of ech auerouse man rauyschen the soulis of hem that welden.
20 Wisdom crieth without; she raiseth her voice in the broadways;
Wisdom prechith with outforth; in stretis it yyueth his vois.
21 she calleth in the chief [place] of concourse, in the entry of the gates; in the city she uttereth her words:
It crieth ofte in the heed of cumpenyes; in the leeues of yatis of the citee it bringith forth hise wordis,
22 How long, simple ones, will ye love simpleness, and scorners take pleasure in their scorning, and the foolish hate knowledge?
and seith, Hou long, ye litle men in wit, louen yong childhod, and foolis schulen coueyte tho thingis, that ben harmful to hem silf, and vnprudent men schulen hate kunnyng?
23 Turn you at my reproof: behold, I will pour forth my spirit unto you, I will make known to you my words.
Be ye conuertid at my repreuyng; lo, Y schal profre forth to you my spirit, and Y schal schewe my wordis.
24 Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no one regarded;
For Y clepide, and ye forsoken; Y helde forth myn hond, and noon was that bihelde.
25 and ye have rejected all my counsel, and would none of my reproof:
Ye dispisiden al my councel; and chargiden not my blamyngis.
26 I also will laugh in your calamity, I will mock when your fear cometh;
And Y schal leiye in youre perisching; and Y schal scorne you, whanne that, that ye dreden, cometh to you.
27 when your fear cometh as sudden destruction, and your calamity cometh as a whirlwind; when distress and anguish come upon you:
Whanne sodeyne wretchidnesse fallith in, and perisching bifallith as tempest; whanne tribulacioun and angwisch cometh on you.
28 — then will they call upon me, but I will not answer; they will seek me early, and shall not find me.
Thanne thei schulen clepe me, and Y schal not here; thei schulen rise eerli, and thei schulen not fynde me.
29 Because they hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of Jehovah;
For thei hatiden teching, and thei token not the drede of the Lord,
30 they would none of my counsel, they despised all my reproof:
nether assentiden to my councel, and depraueden al myn amendyng.
31 therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their way, and be filled with their own devices.
Therfor thei schulen ete the fruytis of her weie; and thei schulen be fillid with her counseils.
32 For the turning away of the simple shall slay them, and the prosperity of the foolish shall cause them to perish.
The turnyng awei of litle men in wit schal sle hem; and the prosperite of foolis schal leese hem.
33 But whoso hearkeneth unto me shall dwell safely, and shall be at rest from fear of evil.
But he that herith me, schal reste with outen drede; and he schal vse abundaunce, whanne the drede of yuels is takun awei.
