Proverbs 27
1 Boast not thyself of to morrow; for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth.
Haue thou not glorie on the morewe, `not knowynge what thing the dai to comynge schal bringe forth.
2 Let another man praise thee, and not thine own mouth; a stranger, and not thine own lips.
Another man, and not thi mouth preise thee; a straunger, and not thi lippis `preise thee.
3 A stone [is] heavy, and the sand weighty; but a fool’s wrath [is] heavier than them both.
A stoon is heuy, and grauel is chariouse; but the ire of a fool is heuyere than euer eithir.
4 Wrath [is] cruel, and anger [is] outrageous; but who [is] able to stand before envy?
Ire hath no merci, and woodnesse brekynge out `hath no merci; and who mai suffre the fersnesse of a spirit stirid?
5 Open rebuke [is] better than secret love.
Betere is opyn repreuyng, than loue hid.
6 Faithful [are] the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy [are] deceitful.
Betere ben the woundis of hym that loueth, than the gileful cossis of hym that hatith.
7 The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
A man fillid schal dispise an hony coomb; but an hungri man schal take, yhe, bittir thing for swete.
8 As a bird that wandereth from her nest, so [is] a man that wandereth from his place.
As a brid passinge ouer fro his nest, so is a man that forsakith his place.
9 Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart: so [doth] the sweetness of a man’s friend by hearty counsel.
The herte delitith in oynement, and dyuerse odours; and a soule is maad swete bi the good counsels of a frend.
10 Thine own friend, and thy father’s friend, forsake not; neither go into thy brother’s house in the day of thy calamity: [for] better [is] a neighbour [that is] near than a brother far off.
Forsake thou not thi frend, and the frend of thi fadir; and entre thou not in to the hous of thi brothir, in the dai of thi turment. Betere is a neiybore nyy, than a brothir afer.
11 My son, be wise, and make my heart glad, that I may answer him that reproacheth me.
Mi sone, studie thou a boute wisdom, and make thou glad myn herte; that thou maist answere a word to a dispisere.
12 A prudent [man] foreseeth the evil, [and] hideth himself; [but] the simple pass on, [and] are punished.
A fel man seynge yuel was hid; litle men of wit passinge forth suffriden harmes.
13 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger, and take a pledge of him for a strange woman.
Take thou awei his clooth, that bihiyte for a straunger; and take thou awei a wed fro hym for an alien man.
14 He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, it shall be counted a curse to him.
He that blessith his neiybore with greet vois; and risith bi niyt, schal be lijk hym that cursith.
15 A continual dropping in a very rainy day and a contentious woman are alike.
Roouys droppynge in the dai of coold, and a womman ful of chidyng ben comparisond.
16 Whosoever hideth her hideth the wind, and the ointment of his right hand, [which] bewrayeth [itself].
He that withholdith hir, as if he holdith wynd; and auoidith the oile of his riyt hond.
17 Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.
Yrun is whettid bi irun; and a man whettith the face of his frend.
18 Whoso keepeth the fig tree shall eat the fruit thereof: so he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.
He that kepith a fige tre, schal ete the fruytis therof; and he that is a kepere of his lord, schal be glorified.
19 As in water face [answereth] to face, so the heart of man to man.
As the cheris of men biholdinge schynen in watris; so the hertis of men ben opyn to prudent men.
Helle and perdicioun schulen not be fillid; so and the iyen of men moun not be fillid. (Sheol h7585)
21 [As] the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so [is] a man to his praise.
As siluer is preuyd in a wellyng place, and gold `is preued in a furneys; so a man is preued bi the mouth of preyseris. The herte of a wickid man sekith out yuels; but a riytful herte sekith out kunnyng.
22 Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, [yet] will not his foolishness depart from him.
Thouy thou beetist a fool in a morter, as with a pestel smytynge aboue dried barli; his foli schal not be don awei fro him.
23 Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, [and] look well to thy herds.
Knowe thou diligentli the cheere of thi beeste; and biholde thou thi flockis.
24 For riches [are] not for ever: and doth the crown [endure] to every generation?
For thou schalt not haue power contynueli; but a coroun schal be youun to thee in generacioun and in to generacioun.
25 The hay appeareth, and the tender grass sheweth itself, and herbs of the mountains are gathered.
Medewis ben openyd, and greene eerbis apperiden; and hey is gaderid fro hillis.
26 The lambs [are] for thy clothing, and the goats [are] the price of the field.
Lambren be to thi clothing; and kidis be to the prijs of feeld.
27 And [thou shalt have] goats’ milk enough for thy food, for the food of thy household, and [for] the maintenance for thy maidens.
The mylke of geete suffice to thee for thi meetis; in to the necessarie thingis of thin hous, and to lijflode to thin handmaidis.
