Proverbs 7
1 My son, accept what I say and value my instructions.
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 Do what I tell you and you will live. Observe my teachings, valuing them as your main focus in life.
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 in your mind.
Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.
4 Tell wisdom, “You're my sister,” and call insight your best friend.
Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.
5 They will protect you from the immoral woman, from the prostitute with her seductive words.
That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.
6 One time I looked through the lattice of the window in my house,
For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.
7 and I saw among the immature young men one who had no sense at all.
I biholde a yong man coward,
8 He was walking down the street near the corner where she lived and took the road passing her house.
that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he
9 It was at dusk in the evening, as the light was fading and the dark night closed in.
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 out came a woman came to meet him. She was dressed as a prostitute and had deceptive intentions.
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 was loud and provocative, never wanting to stay at home.
and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
12 One moment she'd be walking the streets, the next she'd be there in the town squares, loitering at every corner.)
and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
13 She grabbed hold of him and kissed him, and with a bold face she told him,
And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;
14 “I sacrificed my peace offering today, and paid my vows.
to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
15 That's why I came out to meet you. I was looking for you and now I've found you!
Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.
16 My bed is made, covered with colorful linens from Egypt.
Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;
17 I've sprinkled perfume on my bed—myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
18 Come with me, let's make love until the morning. Let's enjoy one another in our love-making!
Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.
19 My husband isn't home; he's gone on a long trip.
For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
20 He took a bag of money with him, and he won't be coming back until the full moon.”
He took with hym a bagge of money; he schal turne ayen in to his hous in the dai of ful moone.
21 She convinced him with all that she said; she seduced him with her smooth talking.
Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
22 He followed her right away, like an ox to the slaughter. Like a stag that's caught in a snare
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 its liver, like a bird flying into a trap, he's unaware he will pay with 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 So now listen to me, my sons, and pay attention to what I'm saying.
Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
25 Don't even think about following her. Don't stray down her road.
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 down and destroyed a lot of men; she's killed so many.
For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.
