Proverbs 7
1 My son, keep my words and treasure my commandments within you.
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; guard my teachings as the apple of your eye.
Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.
3 Tie them to your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart.
Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.
4 Say to wisdom, “You are my sister,” and call understanding your kinsman,
Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.
5 that they may keep you from the adulteress, from the stranger with seductive words.
That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.
6 For at the window of my house I looked through the lattice.
For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.
7 I saw among the simple, I noticed among the youths, a young man lacking judgment,
I biholde a yong man coward,
8 crossing the street near her corner, strolling down the road to her house,
that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he
9 at twilight, as the day was fading into the dark of the night.
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 Then a woman came out to meet him, with the attire of a harlot and cunning of 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 She is loud and defiant; her feet do not remain at home.
and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
12 Now in the street, now in the squares, she lurks at every corner.
and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
13 She seizes him and kisses him; she brazenly says to him:
And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;
14 “I have made my peace offerings; today I have paid my vows.
to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
15 So I came out to meet you; I sought you, and I have found you.
Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.
16 I have decked my bed with coverings, with colored linen from Egypt.
Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;
17 I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, with aloes, and with cinnamon.
Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
18 Come, let us take our fill of love till morning. Let us delight in loving caresses!
Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.
19 For my husband is not at home; he has gone on a long journey.
For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
20 He took with him a bag of money and will not return till the moon is full.”
He took with hym a bagge of money; he schal turne ayen in to his hous in the dai of ful moone.
21 With her great persuasion she entices him; with her flattering lips she lures him.
Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
22 He follows her on impulse, like an ox going to the slaughter, like a deer bounding into a trap,
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 pierces his liver, like a bird darting into a snare— not knowing it will cost him his life.
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, my sons, listen to me, and attend to the words of my mouth.
Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
25 Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths.
Lest thi soule be drawun awei in the weies of hir; nether be thou disseyued in the pathis of hir.
26 For she has brought many down to death; her slain are many in number.
For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.
