Proverbs 23
1 Whanne thou sittist, to ete with the prince, perseyue thou diligentli what thingis ben set bifore thi face,
When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;
2 and sette thou a withholding in thi throte. If netheles thou hast power on thi soule,
And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 desire thou not of his metis, in whom is the breed of `a leesing.
Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Nyle thou trauele to be maad riche, but sette thou mesure to thi prudence.
Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money.
5 Reise not thin iyen to richessis, whiche thou maist not haue; for tho schulen make to hem silf pennes, as of an egle, and tho schulen flee in to heuene.
Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.
6 Ete thou not with an enuyouse man, and desire thou not hise metis;
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 for at the licnesse of a fals dyuynour and of a coniectere, he gessith that, that he knowith not. He schal seie to thee, Ete thou and drinke; and his soule is not with thee.
For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 Thou schalt brake out the metis, whiche thou hast ete; and thou schalt leese thi faire wordis.
The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 Speke thou not in the eeris of vnwise men; for thei schulen dispise the teching of thi speche.
Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Touche thou not the termes of litle children; and entre thou not in to the feeld of fadirles and modirles children.
Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;
11 For the neiybore of hem is strong, and he schal deme her cause ayens thee.
For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Thin herte entre to techyng, and thin eeris `be redi to the wordis of kunnyng.
Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Nile thou withdrawe chastisyng fro a child; for thouy thou smyte hym with a yerde, he schal not die.
Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.
Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
15 Mi sone, if thi soule is wijs, myn herte schal haue ioye with thee;
My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 and my reynes schulen make ful out ioye, whanne thi lippis speken riytful thing.
And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Thin herte sue not synneris; but be thou in the drede of the Lord al dai.
Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 For thou schalt haue hope at the laste, and thin abidyng schal not be don awei.
For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Mi sone, here thou, and be thou wijs, and dresse thi soule in the weie.
Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way.
20 Nyle thou be in the feestis of drinkeris, nether in the ofte etyngis of hem, that bryngen togidere fleischis to ete.
Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:
21 For men yyuynge tent to drinkis, and yyuyng mussels togidere, schulen be waastid, and napping schal be clothid with clothis.
For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.
22 Here thi fadir, that gendride thee; and dispise not thi modir, whanne sche is eld.
Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.
23 Bie thou treuthe, and nyle thou sille wisdom, and doctryn, and vndurstonding.
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
24 The fadir of a iust man ioieth ful out with ioie; he that gendride a wijs man, schal be glad in hym.
The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.
25 Thi fadir and thi modir haue ioye, and he that gendride thee, make ful out ioye.
Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 My sone, yyue thin herte to me, and thin iyen kepe my weyes.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 For an hoore is a deep diche, and an alien womman is a streit pit.
For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 Sche settith aspie in the weie, as a theef; and sche schal sle hem, whiche sche schal se vnwar.
Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 To whom is wo? to whos fadir is wo? to whom ben chidingis? to whom ben dichis? to whom ben woundis with out cause? to whom is puttyng out of iyen?
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 Whether not to hem, that dwellen in wyn, and studien to drynke al of cuppis?
Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Biholde thou not wyn, whanne it sparclith, whanne the colour therof schyneth in a ver.
Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:
32 It entrith swetli, but at the laste it schal bite as an eddre doith, and as a cocatrice it schal schede abrood venyms.
In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 Thin iyen schulen se straunge wymmen, and thi herte schal speke weiwerd thingis.
Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 And thou schalt be as a man slepinge in the myddis of the see, and as a gouernour aslepid, whanne the steere is lost.
Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.
35 And thou schalt seie, Thei beeten me, but Y hadde not sorewe; thei drowen me, and Y feelide not; whanne schal Y wake out, and Y schal fynde wynes eft?
They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
