Proverbs 23
1 Whanne thou sittist, to ete with the prince, perseyue thou diligentli what thingis ben set bifore thi face,
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee:
2 and sette thou a withholding in thi throte. If netheles thou hast power on thi soule,
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [art] 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 food.
4 Nyle thou trauele to be maad riche, but sette thou mesure to thi prudence.
Labor not to be rich: cease from thy 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.
Wilt thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make to themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle towards heaven.
6 Ete thou not with an enuyouse man, and desire thou not hise metis;
Eat thou not the bread of [him that hath] an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties:
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 thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart [is] not with thee.
8 Thou schalt brake out the metis, whiche thou hast ete; and thou schalt leese thi faire wordis.
The morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy 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 thy 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 will plead their cause with thee.
12 Thin herte entre to techyng, and thin eeris `be redi to the wordis of kunnyng.
Apply thy heart to instruction, and thy 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] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt 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 thy 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 thy lips speak right things.
17 Thin herte sue not synneris; but be thou in the drede of the Lord al dai.
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but [be thou] 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 thy expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Mi sone, here thou, and be thou wijs, and dresse thi soule in the weie.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy 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 wine-bibbers; 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.
Hearken to thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy 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 begetteth 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.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall rejoice.
26 My sone, yyue thin herte to me, and thin iyen kepe my weyes.
My son, give me thy heart, and let thy eyes observe my ways.
27 For an hoore is a deep diche, and an alien womman is a streit pit.
For a lewd woman [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 lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth 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 hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath 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 thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, [when] it moveth 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 biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thin iyen schulen se straunge wymmen, and thi herte schal speke weiwerd thingis.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy 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.
And thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon 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, [wilt thou 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.
