Proverbs 2

1 My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and lay up my commandments with thee;

Mi sone, if thou resseyuest my wordis, `and hidist myn heestis anentis thee;

2 So that thou make thine ear attend unto wisdom, and thy heart incline to discernment;

that thin eere here wisdom, bowe thin herte to knowe prudence.

3 Yea, if thou call for understanding, and lift up thy voice for discernment;

For if thou inwardli clepist wisdom, and bowist thin herte to prudence;

4 If thou seek her as silver, and search for her as for hid treasures;

if thou sekist it as money, and diggist it out as tresours;

5 Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.

thanne thou schalt vndirstonde the drede of the Lord, and schalt fynde the kunnyng of God.

6 For the LORD giveth wisdom, out of His mouth cometh knowledge and discernment;

For the Lord yyueth wisdom; and prudence and kunnyng is of his mouth.

7 He layeth up sound wisdom for the upright, He is a shield to them that walk in integrity;

He schal kepe the heelthe of riytful men, and he schal defende hem that goen sympli.

8 That He may guard the paths of justice, and preserve the way of His godly ones.

And he schal kepe the pathis of riytfulnesse, and he schal kepe the weies of hooli men.

9 Then shalt thou understand righteousness and justice, and equity, yea, every good path.

Thanne thou schalt vndirstonde riytfulnesse, and dom, and equytee, and ech good path.

10 For wisdom shall enter into thy heart, and knowledge shall be pleasant unto thy soul;

If wysdom entrith in to thin herte, and kunnyng plesith thi soule,

11 Discretion shall watch over thee, discernment shall guard thee;

good councel schal kepe thee, and prudence schal kepe thee; that thou be delyuered fro an yuel weie,

12 To deliver thee from the way of evil, from the men that speak froward things;

and fro a man that spekith weiward thingis.

13 Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;

Whiche forsaken a riytful weie, and goen bi derk weies;

14 Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the frowardness of evil;

whiche ben glad, whanne thei han do yuel, and maken ful out ioye in worste thingis;

15 Who are crooked in their ways, and perverse in their paths;

whose weies ben weywerd, and her goyingis ben of yuel fame.

16 To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the alien woman that maketh smooth her words;

That thou be delyuered fro an alien womman, and fro a straunge womman, that makith soft hir wordis;

17 That forsaketh the lord of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.

and forsakith the duyk of hir tyme of mariage,

18 For her house sinketh down unto death, and her paths unto the shades;

and hath foryete the couenaunt of hir God. For the hous of hir is bowid to deeth, and hir pathis to helle.

19 None that go unto her return, neither do they attain unto the paths of life;

Alle that entren to hir, schulen not turne ayen, nether schulen catche the pathis of lijf.

20 That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.

That thou go in a good weie, and kepe the pathis of iust men.

21 For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the whole-hearted shall remain in it.

Forsothe thei that ben riytful, schulen dwelle in the lond; and symple men schulen perfitli dwelle ther ynne.

22 But the wicked shall be cut off from the land, and the faithless shall be plucked up out of it.

But vnfeithful men schulen be lost fro the loond; and thei that doen wickidli, schulen be takun awey fro it.