Proverbs 23
1 Whanne thou sittist, to ete with the prince, perseyue thou diligentli what thingis ben set bifore thi face,
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently 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 be a man given to appetite.
3 desire thou not of his metis, in whom is the breed of `a leesing.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Nyle thou trauele to be maad riche, but sette thou mesure to thi prudence.
Labor not to be rich: cease from your own wisdom.
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.
Will you set your eyes on that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Ete thou not with an enuyouse man, and desire thou not hise metis;
Eat you not the bread of him that has an evil eye, neither desire you his dainty meats:
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 he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, says he 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 morsel which you have eaten shall you vomit up, and lose your sweet words.
9 Speke thou not in the eeris of vnwise men; for thei schulen dispise the teching of thi speche.
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise 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.
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For the neiybore of hem is strong, and he schal deme her cause ayens thee.
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with you.
12 Thin herte entre to techyng, and thin eeris `be redi to the wordis of kunnyng.
Apply your heart to instruction, 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.
Withhold not correction from the child: for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 Mi sone, if thi soule is wijs, myn herte schal haue ioye with thee;
My son, if your heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 and my reynes schulen make ful out ioye, whanne thi lippis speken riytful thing.
Yes, my reins shall rejoice, when your lips speak right things.
17 Thin herte sue not synneris; but be thou in the drede of the Lord al dai.
Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 For thou schalt haue hope at the laste, and thin abidyng schal not be don awei.
For surely there is an end; and your expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Mi sone, here thou, and be thou wijs, and dresse thi soule in the weie.
Hear you, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.
20 Nyle thou be in the feestis of drinkeris, nether in the ofte etyngis of hem, that bryngen togidere fleischis to ete.
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For men yyuynge tent to drinkis, and yyuyng mussels togidere, schulen be waastid, and napping schal be clothid with clothis.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Here thi fadir, that gendride thee; and dispise not thi modir, whanne sche is eld.
Listen to your father that begat you, and despise not your mother when she is old.
23 Bie thou treuthe, and nyle thou sille wisdom, and doctryn, and vndurstonding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
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 righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begets a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thi fadir and thi modir haue ioye, and he that gendride thee, make ful out ioye.
Your father and your mother shall be glad, and she that bore you shall rejoice.
26 My sone, yyue thin herte to me, and thin iyen kepe my weyes.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For an hoore is a deep diche, and an alien womman is a streit pit.
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Sche settith aspie in the weie, as a theef; and sche schal sle hem, whiche sche schal se vnwar.
She also lies in wait as for a prey, and increases the transgressors 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 has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes?
30 Whether not to hem, that dwellen in wyn, and studien to drynke al of cuppis?
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Biholde thou not wyn, whanne it sparclith, whanne the colour therof schyneth in a ver.
Look not you on the wine when it is red, when it gives his color in the cup, when it moves itself aright.
32 It entrith swetli, but at the laste it schal bite as an eddre doith, and as a cocatrice it schal schede abrood venyms.
At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
33 Thin iyen schulen se straunge wymmen, and thi herte schal speke weiwerd thingis.
Your eyes shall behold strange women, and your heart shall utter perverse 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 shall be as he that lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he that lies on the top of a mast.
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 stricken me, shall you say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
