Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who 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; for they are deceitful food.
desire thou not of his metis, in whom is the breed of `a leesing.
4 Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:
Nyle thou trauele to be maad riche, but sette thou mesure to thi prudence.
5 wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.
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 food 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 in his soul, so is he. Eat and drink! will he say unto 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 Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted 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 ears of a foolish [man], 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 mighty; 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 beatest him with the rod, he shall 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 shall rejoice, even mine;
Mi sone, if thi soule is wijs, myn herte schal haue ioye with thee;
16 and my reins shall exult, 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;
Thin herte sue not synneris; but be thou in the drede of the Lord al dai.
18 for surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
For thou schalt haue hope at the laste, and thin abidyng schal not be don awei.
19 Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct 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 riotous 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 clotheth 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; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.
Bie thou treuthe, and nyle thou sille wisdom, and doctryn, and vndurstonding.
24 The father of a righteous [man] shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise [son] shall 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 have joy, and let her that bore 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 observe my ways.
My sone, yyue thin herte to me, and thin iyen kepe my weyes.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For an hoore is a deep diche, and an alien womman is a streit pit.
28 She also 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 contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who 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 try mixed wine.
Whether not to hem, that dwellen in wyn, and studien to drynke al of cuppis?
31 Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and 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 women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;
Thin iyen schulen se straunge wymmen, and thi herte schal speke weiwerd thingis.
34 and thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down 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 smitten me, [and] I am not sore; they have beaten me, [and] I knew 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?
