Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that 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; Seeing they are deceitful food.
desire thou not of his metis, in whom is the breed of `a leesing.
4 Weary not thyself 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, Like an eagle that flieth 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 dainties:
Ete thou not with an enuyouse man, and desire thou not hise metis;
7 For as he thinketh within himself, 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 hearing 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 ancient 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 strong; He will plead their cause against thee.
For the neiybore of hem is strong, and he schal deme her cause ayens thee.
12 Apply thy 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 beat him with the rod, he will 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 thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine:
Mi sone, if thi soule is wijs, myn herte schal haue ioye with thee;
16 Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things.
and my reynes schulen make ful out ioye, whanne thi lippis speken riytful thing.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners; But [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah 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 a reward; And thy hope 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 thy 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 gluttonous 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 will 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; [Yea], wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Bie thou treuthe, and nyle thou sille wisdom, and doctryn, and vndurstonding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will 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 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice.
Thi fadir and thi modir haue ioye, and he that gendride thee, make ful out ioye.
26 My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways.
My sone, yyue thin herte to me, and thin iyen kepe my weyes.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
For an hoore is a deep diche, and an alien womman is a streit pit.
28 Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous 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 complaining? 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 out 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 sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly:
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 things, And thy 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 hurt; 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?
