Proverbs 2
1 Mi sone, if thou resseyuest my wordis, `and hidist myn heestis anentis thee;
My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and treasure my commandments with thee;
2 that thin eere here wisdom, bowe thin herte to knowe prudence.
So that thou incline thy ear to wisdom, and apply thy heart to understanding;
3 For if thou inwardli clepist wisdom, and bowist thin herte to prudence;
Yea, if thou criest after knowledge, and liftest up thy voice for understanding;
4 if thou sekist it as money, and diggist it out as tresours;
If thou seekest her as silver, and searchest for her as for hid treasures;
5 thanne thou schalt vndirstonde the drede of the Lord, and schalt fynde the kunnyng of God.
Then shalt thou understand the fear of the LORD, and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord yyueth wisdom; and prudence and kunnyng is of his mouth.
For the LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
7 He schal kepe the heelthe of riytful men, and he schal defende hem that goen sympli.
He layeth up sound wisdom for the righteous: he is a shield to them that walk uprightly.
8 And he schal kepe the pathis of riytfulnesse, and he schal kepe the weies of hooli men.
He keepeth the paths of judgment, and preserveth the way of his saints.
9 Thanne thou schalt vndirstonde riytfulnesse, and dom, and equytee, and ech good path.
Then shalt thou understand righteousness, and judgment, and equity; and, every good path.
10 If wysdom entrith in to thin herte, and kunnyng plesith thi soule,
When wisdom entereth into thy heart, and knowledge is pleasant to thy soul;
11 good councel schal kepe thee, and prudence schal kepe thee; that thou be delyuered fro an yuel weie,
Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:
12 and fro a man that spekith weiward thingis.
To deliver thee from the way of the evil man, from the man that speaketh perverse things;
13 Whiche forsaken a riytful weie, and goen bi derk weies;
Who leave the paths of uprightness, to walk in the ways of darkness;
14 whiche ben glad, whanne thei han do yuel, and maken ful out ioye in worste thingis;
Who rejoice to do evil, and delight in the perverseness of the wicked;
15 whose weies ben weywerd, and her goyingis ben of yuel fame.
Whose ways are crooked, and they are perverse in their paths:
16 That thou be delyuered fro an alien womman, and fro a straunge womman, that makith soft hir wordis;
To deliver thee from the strange woman, even from the adulteress who flattereth with her words;
17 and forsakith the duyk of hir tyme of mariage,
Who forsaketh the guide of her youth, and forgetteth the covenant of her God.
18 and hath foryete the couenaunt of hir God. For the hous of hir is bowid to deeth, and hir pathis to helle.
For her house inclineth to death, and her paths to the dead.
19 Alle that entren to hir, schulen not turne ayen, nether schulen catche the pathis of lijf.
None that go to her return again, neither do they take hold of the paths of life.
20 That thou go in a good weie, and kepe the pathis of iust men.
That thou mayest walk in the way of good men, and keep the paths of the righteous.
21 Forsothe thei that ben riytful, schulen dwelle in the lond; and symple men schulen perfitli dwelle ther ynne.
For the upright shall dwell in the land, and the perfect shall remain in it.
22 But vnfeithful men schulen be lost fro the loond; and thei that doen wickidli, schulen be takun awey fro it.
But the wicked shall be cut off from the earth, and the transgressors shall be rooted out of it.
