Proverbs 14
1 A wijs womman bildith hir hous; and an unwijs womman schal distrie with hondis an hous bildid.
Wise women [PRS] hold their families together [by the wise things that they do], but foolish women ruin their families by the foolish things that they do.
2 A man goynge in riytful weie, and dredinge God, is dispisid of hym, that goith in a weie of yuel fame.
By [continually] behaving/acting righteously, [people show that they] greatly revere Yahweh; those who (walk on crooked paths/always deceive others) [show that they] despise him.
3 The yerde of pride is in the mouth of a fool; the lippis of wijs men kepen hem.
Foolish people will be punished [MTY] for what they say, but wise [people] will be protected by what they say [MTY].
4 Where oxis ben not, the cratche is void; but where ful many cornes apperen, there the strengthe of oxe is opyn.
If [a man has] no oxen [to plow his field], he does not [need to put] grain [in their feedbox], but if [he has] oxen, they will enable [him to produce] an abundant crop.
5 A feithful witnesse schal not lie; a gileful witnesse bringith forth a leesing.
Witnesses who are reliable [always] say what (is true/really happened), but witnesses who are not reliable constantly tell lies [about what happened].
6 A scornere sekith wisdom, and he fyndith not; the teching of prudent men is esy.
Those who make fun [of being wise] will never become wise, but those who understand [what is right] learn things easily.
7 Go thou ayens a man a fool; and he schal not knowe the lippis of prudence.
Stay away from foolish people, because they will not be able to teach you anything [useful].
8 The wisdom of a fel man is to vndirstonde his weie; and the vnwarnesse of foolis errith.
Those who have good sense are wise, so they know what they should do [and what they should not do]; foolish people do not know what is right to do, but because they think that they do, they are deceiving themselves.
9 A fool scorneth synne; grace schal dwelle among iust men.
Foolish people make fun of their committing sins; but God is pleased with those who do what is right.
10 The herte that knowith the bittirnesse of his soule; a straunger schal not be meddlid in the ioie therof.
If you are very sad or if you are joyful, only you know what you are experiencing; no one else [can] know what you are feeling.
11 The hous of wickid men schal be don awei; the tabernaclis of iust men schulen buriowne.
Houses built by wicked [people] will be destroyed, but houses built by good/righteous [people] will last for a long time.
12 Sotheli a weie is, that semeth iust to a man; but the laste thingis therof leden forth to deth.
There are some kinds of behavior [MET] that [some] people [falsely] think are right, but (walking on those roads/continually doing those things) causes [those people] to die.
13 Leiyyng schal be medlid with sorewe; and morenyng ocupieth the laste thingis of ioye.
[Sometimes] when people laugh, they are [really] sad, and when they stop laughing, they are still sad.
14 A fool schal be fillid with hise weies; and a good man schal be aboue hym.
Those who stubbornly continue to do what is wrong will get what they deserve, and those who continually do what is good will [also] get what they deserve.
15 An innocent man bileueth to eche word; a felle man biholdith hise goyngis.
Foolish people believe everything [that people tell them]; those who have good sense think carefully about what will be the result of their actions.
16 A wijs man dredith, and bowith awei fro yuel; a fool skippith ouer, and tristith.
Wise people are careful and avoid [doing things that will give them] trouble; foolish people are careless and act (too quickly/without thinking).
17 A man vnpacient schal worche foli; and a gileful man is odiouse.
Those who quickly become angry [IDM] do foolish things; [people] hate those who plan to do wicked things (OR, those who have good sense remain calm/patient).
18 Litle men of wit schulen holde foli; and felle men schulen abide kunnyng.
Foolish people get what they deserve for doing foolish things; those with good sense are rewarded [MET] by being able to learn a lot.
19 Yuel men schulen ligge bifor goode men; and vnpitouse men bifor the yatis of iust men.
[Some day] evil [people] will bow down in front of righteous [people to show that they respect them]; they [will humbly stand] at the gates of [the houses of] righteous [people and request their help].
20 A pore man schal be hateful, yhe, to his neiybore; but many men ben frendis of riche men.
[No one likes] poor [people]; even their friends/neighbors do not like them; rich [people] have many friends, but [only while the rich people still have money].
21 He that dispisith his neiybore, doith synne; but he that doith merci to a pore man, schal be blessid. He that bileueth in the Lord, loueth merci;
It is sinful to despise your [poor] neighbors; [God] is pleased with those who do kind things for the poor.
22 thei erren that worchen yuel. Merci and treuthe maken redi goodis;
Those who plan to do things that are evil/wrong are walking on the wrong road; people faithfully love, respect and are loyal to those who plan to do what is good.
23 abundaunce `schal be in ech good werk. Sotheli where ful many wordis ben, there nedynesse is ofte.
If you work hard, you will (accomplish something good/get a good income), but if all you do is to talk [and not work], you will remain poor.
24 The coroun of wise men is the richessis of hem; the fooli of foolis is vnwarnesse.
One of the rewards [MET] of being wise is to become rich; the reward of acting foolishly is to become more foolish.
25 A feithful witnesse delyuereth soulis; and a fals man bringith forth leesyngis.
By saying [in court] what is true, you [can] save the life [of the one who is being falsely accused]; if you tell lies, you are abandoning someone who needs your help [to defend him].
26 In the drede of the Lord is triste of strengthe; and hope schal be to the sones of it.
Those who revere Yahweh are confident [that he will protect them], and their family will [also] be protected.
27 The drede of the Lord is a welle of lijf; that it bowe awei fro the fallyng of deth.
Having an awesome respect for Yahweh is [like] [MET] [having] a fountain that gives life; it will help you to escape when something dangerous is threatening to kill you [MET].
28 The dignite of the king is in the multitude of puple; and the schenschipe of a prince is in the fewnesse of puple.
If a king rules over many people, many people will [be able to] honor him; if he has only a few people in his kingdom, he will have very little [HYP] power.
29 He that is pacient, is gouerned bi myche wisdom; but he that is vnpacient, enhaunsith his foli.
Those who do not quickly become angry are very wise; by quickly becoming angry, people show that they are foolish.
30 Helthe of herte is the lijf of fleischis; enuye is rot of boonys.
Having a mind that is peaceful results in having a healthy body; having a mind that is [often] in turmoil is [like] [MET] cancer in [a person’s] bones.
31 He that falsli chalengith a nedi man, dispisith his maker; but he that hath merci on a pore man, onourith that makere.
Those who oppress poor people are insulting God, the one who made those poor people, but acting kindly toward them is respecting God.
32 A wickid man is put out for his malice; but a iust man hopith in his deth.
Wicked [people] ruin themselves by the evil things that they do, but righteous/good [people] are kept safe/protected even when they die (OR, because of their continually doing what is right).
33 Wisdom restith in the herte of a wijs man; and he schal teche alle vnlerned men.
Those who have good sense always think what is wise; foolish people do not know anything about being wise.
34 Riytfulnesse reisith a folc; synne makith puplis wretchis.
[When] the people of a nation [continually act] righteously, it causes that nation to be great; [continually doing what is] evil causes a nation to be disgraced.
35 A mynystre vndurstondynge is acceptable to a kyng; a mynystre vnprofitable schal suffre the wrathfulnesse of him.
Kings are pleased with officials who do their work competently/skillfully, but they punish [MTY] those who [do their work in a manner that] causes the kings to be disgraced.
