Proverbs 5
1 My son, attend unto my wisdom; incline thine ear to my understanding:
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 that thy lips may keep knowledge.
and thi lippis kepe teching. Yyue thou not tent to the falsnesse of a womman;
3 For the lips of a strange woman drop honey, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
for the lippis of an hoore ben an hony coomb droppinge, and hir throte is clerere than oile;
4 But her latter end 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 So that she findeth not the level path of life: her ways are unstable [and] she knoweth [it] not.
Tho goon not bi the path of lijf; hir steppis ben vncerteyn, and moun not be souyt out.
7 Now therefore, [my] sons, hearken unto me, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
Now therfor, my sone, here thou me, and go not awei fro the wordis of my mouth.
8 Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:
Make fer thi weie fro hir, and neiye thou not to the doris of hir hous.
9 Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:
Yyue thou not thin onour to aliens, and thi yeeris to the cruel;
10 Lest strangers be filled with thy strength; and thy labours [be] in the house of an alien;
lest perauenture straungeris be fillid with thi strengthis, and lest thi trauels be in an alien hous;
11 And thou mourn at thy latter end, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
and thou biweile in the laste daies, whanne thou hast wastid thi fleschis, and thi bodi; and thou seie,
12 And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
Whi wlatide Y teching, and myn herte assentide not to blamyngis;
13 Neither have I obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!
nether Y herde the voys of men techinge me, and Y bowide not doun myn eere to maistris?
14 I was well nigh in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.
Almest Y was in al yuel, in the myddis of the chirche, and of the synagoge.
15 Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.
Drinke thou watir of thi cisterne, and the floodis of thi pit.
16 Should thy springs be dispersed abroad, and rivers of water in the streets?
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 fountain be blessed; and rejoice in the wife of thy youth.
Thi veyne be blessid; and be thou glad with the womman of thi yong wexynge age.
19 [As] a loving hind and a pleasant doe, let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.
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 For why shouldest thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
Mi sone, whi art thou disseyued of an alien womman; and art fostrid in the bosum of an othere?
21 For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he maketh level all his paths.
The Lord seeth the weie of a man; and biholdith alle hise steppis.
22 His own iniquities shall take the wicked, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sin.
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 instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
He schal die, for he hadde not lernyng; and he schal be disseyued in the mychilnesse of his fooli.
