Proverbs 22
1 Betere is a good name, than many richessis; for good grace is aboue siluer and gold.
A [good] name is rather to be chosen than great riches, [and] loving favour rather than silver and gold.
2 A riche man and a pore man metten hem silf; the Lord is worchere of euer eithir.
The rich and the poor meet together: the LORD is the maker of them all.
3 A felle man seeth yuel, and hidith him silf; and an innocent man passid, and he was turmentid bi harm.
A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself: but the simple pass on, and suffer for it.
4 The ende of temperaunce is the drede of the Lord; richessis, and glorye, and lijf.
The reward of humility [and] the fear of the LORD [is] riches, and honour, and life.
5 Armuris and swerdis ben in the weie of a weiward man; but the kepere of his soule goith awey fer fro tho.
Thorns [and] snares are in the way of the froward: he that keepeth his soul shall be far from them.
6 It is a prouerbe, A yong wexynge man bisidis his weie, and whanne he hath wexe elde, he schal not go awei fro it.
Train up a child in the way he should go, and even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 A riche man comaundith to pore men; and he that takith borewyng, is the seruaunt of the leenere.
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
8 He that sowith wickidnes, schal repe yuels; and the yerde of his yre schal be endid.
He that soweth iniquity shall reap calamity: and the rod of his wrath shall fail.
9 He that is redi to merci, schal be blessid; for of his looues he yaf to a pore man. He that yyueth yiftis, schal gete victorie and onour; forsothe he takith awei the soule of the takeris.
He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.
10 Caste thou out a scornere, and strijf schal go out with hym; and causis and dispisyngis schulen ceesse.
Cast out the scorner, and contention shall go out; yea, strife and ignominy shall cease.
11 He that loueth the clennesse of herte, schal haue the kyng a freend, for the grace of hise lippis.
He that loveth pureness of heart, [for] the grace of his lips the king shall be his friend.
12 The iyen of the Lord kepen kunnyng; and the wordis of a wickid man ben disseyued.
The eyes of the LORD preserve [him that hath] knowledge, but he overthroweth the words of the treacherous man.
13 A slow man schal seie, A lioun is withoutforth; Y schal be slayn in the myddis of the stretis.
The sluggard saith, There is a lion without: I shall be murdered in the streets.
14 The mouth of an alien womman is a deep diche; he to whom the Lord is wrooth, schal falle in to it.
The mouth of strange women is a deep pit: he that is abhorred of the LORD shall fall therein.
15 Foli is boundun togidere in the herte of a child; and a yerde of chastisyng schal dryue it awey.
Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; [but] the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
16 He that falsli chalengith a pore man, to encreesse hise owne richessis, schal yyue to a richere man, and schal be nedi.
He that oppresseth the poor to increase his [gain, and] he that giveth to the rich, [cometh] only to want.
17 My sone, bowe doun thin eere, and here thou the wordis of wise men; but sette thou the herte to my techyng.
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
18 That schal be fair to thee, whanne thou hast kept it in thin herte, and it schal flowe ayen in thi lippis.
For it is a pleasant thing if thou keep them within thee, if they be established together upon thy lips.
19 That thi trist be in the Lord; wherfor and Y haue schewid it to thee to dai.
That thy trust may be in the LORD, I have made [them] known to thee this day, even to thee.
20 Lo! Y haue discryued it in thre maneres, in thouytis and kunnyng,
Have not I written unto thee excellent things of counsels and knowledge;
21 that Y schulde schewe to thee the sadnesse and spechis of trewthe; to answere of these thingis to hem, that senten thee.
To make thee know the certainty of the words of truth, that thou mayest carry back words of truth to them that send thee?
22 Do thou not violence to a pore man, for he is pore; nethir defoule thou a nedi man in the yate.
Rob not the poor, because he is poor, neither oppress the afflicted in the gate:
23 For the Lord schal deme his cause, and he schal turmente hem, that turmentiden his soule.
For the LORD will plead their cause, and despoil of life those that despoil them.
24 Nyle thou be freend to a wrathful man, nether go thou with a wood man;
Make no friendship with a man that is given to anger; and with a wrathful man thou shalt not go:
25 lest perauenture thou lerne hise weies, and take sclaundir to thi soule.
Lest thou learn his ways, and get a snare to thy soul.
26 Nyle thou be with hem that oblischen her hondis, and that proferen hem silf borewis for dettis; for if he hath not wherof he schal restore,
Be thou not one of them that strike hands, [or] of them that are sureties for debts:
27 what of cause is, that thou take awei hilyng fro thi bed?
If thou hast not wherewith to pay, why should he take away thy bed from under thee?
28 Go thou not ouer the elde markis, whiche thi faders han set.
Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.
29 Thou hast seyn a man smert in his werk; he schal stonde bifore kyngis, and he schal not be bifor vnnoble men.
Seest thou a man diligent in his business? he shall stand before kings; he shall not stand before mean men.
