Proverbs 24
1 Sue thou not yuele men, desire thou not to be with hem.
Do not envy evil people; do not desire to associate with them,
2 For the soule of hem bithenkith raueyns, and her lippis speken fraudis.
because they are [constantly] thinking about acting violently, and whenever they speak [MTY], they talk about (causing trouble/hurting someone).
3 An hous schal be bildid bi wisdom, and schal be maad strong bi prudence.
People make good houses (OR, families) by doing what is wise, and they make their houses (OR, families) strong by [heeding] good advice.
4 Celeris schulen be fillid in teching, al riches preciouse and ful fair.
By using good sense, [they are able to buy] valuable and beautiful things and put them in the rooms of their houses.
5 A wijs man is strong, and a lerned man is stalworth and miyti.
Being wise is better than being strong/powerful; those who know [many things can accomplish more] than those who are [very] strong.
6 For whi batel is bigunnun with ordenaunce, and helthe schal be, where many counsels ben.
Leaders can fight battles if they have wise advisors, and they win those battles if they have many good advisors.
7 Wisdom is hiy to a fool; in the yate he schal not opene his mouth.
Foolish people cannot understand wise sayings/talk; at public meetings they are not [able to] say anything [that is useful].
8 He that thenkith to do yuels, schal be clepid a fool.
Those who are [always] planning to do evil things will be called troublemakers.
9 The thouyte of a fool is synne; and a bacbitere is abhomynacioun of men.
It is sinful to plan to do foolish things, and people hate those who make fun of [everything that is good].
10 If thou that hast slide, dispeirist in the dai of angwisch, thi strengthe schal be maad lesse.
If you [act as though] you are helpless when you have troubles, you are [truly very] weak.
11 Delyuere thou hem, that ben led to deth; and ceesse thou not to delyuere hem, that ben drawun to deth.
[If it is unjustly decided] that someone must be executed, [try hard to] rescue them [DOU].
12 If thou seist, Strengthis suffisen not; he that is biholdere of the herte, vndirstondith, and no thing disseyueth the kepere of thi soule, and he schal yelde to a man bi hise werkis.
If you say, “I did not know anything about it, [so (it is not my concern/I did not try to help him)],” remember that God knows what we have done, and he knows what we were thinking [IDM, RHQ], and he will certainly [RHQ] repay us as we deserve for what we have done or for not doing what we should have done.
13 Mi sone, ete thou hony, for it is good; and an honycomb ful swete to thi throte.
My child/son, eat honey, because it is good [for you]; the honey that drips from honeycombs tastes [very] sweet.
14 `So and the techyng of wisdom is good to thi soule; and whanne thou hast founde it, thou schalt haue hope in the laste thingis, and thin hope schal not perische.
Similarly, being wise is good for your soul; if you become wise, you will be [happy in] the future, and [God] will certainly [do for you what you are] confidently expecting him to do [LIT].
15 Aspie thou not, and seke not wickidnesse in the hous of a iust man, nether waste thou his reste.
Do not be like wicked people who [hide and] wait to break into the houses of righteous/good [people] and rob/steal things.
16 For a iust man schal falle seuene sithis in the dai, and schal rise ayen; but wickid men schulen falle in to yuele.
[Even if] good people fall down seven/many times, they [always] stand/get up again, but when a disaster happens to wicked [people], it ruins/destroys them.
17 Whanne thin enemye fallith, haue thou not ioye; and thin herte haue not ful out ioiyng in his fal;
Do not be happy when something bad happens to one of your enemies; do not rejoice when he stumbles and falls,
18 lest perauenture the Lord se, and it displese hym, and he take awei his ire fro hym.
because Yahweh will know what you are thinking, and he will not like it, and [as a result] he will not punish that enemy of yours.
19 Stryue thou not with `the worste men, nether sue thou wickid men.
Do not become angry/upset about those who do what is evil, and do not [SYN] envy them,
20 For whi yuele men han not hope of thingis to comynge, and the lanterne of wickid men schal be quenchid.
because [nothing good] will happen to wicked people; they are [like] a lamp that will soon be extinguished [MET].
21 My sone, drede thou God, and the kyng; and be thou not medlid with bacbiteris.
My child/son, revere Yahweh and [also] honor the king, and do not associate with people who want to rebel against either of them,
22 For her perdicioun schal rise togidere sudenli, and who knowith the fal of euer either?
because those people will suddenly experience disasters; and no one knows [RHQ] what great disasters that God or the king can cause to happen to them.
23 Also these thingis that suen ben to wise men. It is not good to knowe a persoone in doom.
Here are more things that wise [people] have said: It is wrong for judges to decide matters unfairly [IDM].
24 Puplis schulen curse hem, that seien to a wickid man, Thou art iust; and lynagis schulen holde hem abhomynable.
If they say to people who are guilty, “You (are innocent/have not done something that is wrong),” [even] people in other nations will curse and despise them,
25 Thei that repreuen iustli synners, schulen be preisid; and blessing schal come on hem.
but if judges say that guilty people must be punished, things will go well for those judges, and (they will receive blessings/God will bless them).
26 He that answerith riytful wordis, schal kisse lippis.
Those who answer others honestly show that they are truly their friends [IDM].
27 Make redi thi werk with outforth, and worche thi feelde dilygentli, that thou bilde thin hous aftirward.
First, do the work [that needs to be done] outside [your house], and prepare your fields, [and then plant things], and after you finish doing that, build your house.
28 Be thou not a witnesse with out resonable cause ayens thi neiybore; nether flatere thou ony man with thi lippis.
[In the courtroom] do not testify against someone when you have no reason to do that, and do not [try to] deceive [people] by what you say [MTY].
29 Seie thou not, As he dide to me, so Y schal do to him, and Y schal yelde to ech man aftir his werk.
Do not say, “I will do to him what he did to me; I will pay him back for [the bad things that] he did to me.”
30 I passide bi the feeld of a slow man, and bi the vyner of a fonned man; and, lo!
One day I walked by the vineyards of a lazy man, a man who did not have good sense.
31 nettlis hadden fillid al, thornes hadden hilid the hiyere part therof, and the wal of stoonys with out morter was distried.
I was surprised to see that the fields were full of all kinds of thorny bushes, and the stone wall [around the garden] had (collapsed/fallen down).
32 And whanne Y hadde seyn this thing, Y settide in myn herte, and bi ensaumple Y lernyde techyng.
When I saw that, I thought about it, and I learned this:
33 Hou longe slepist thou, slow man? whanne schalt thou ryse fro sleep? Sotheli thou schalt slepe a litil, thou schalt nappe a litil, thou schalt ioyne togidere the hondis a litil, to take reste;
[If you spend a lot of time] sleeping and napping and folding your hands while you rest,
34 and thi nedynesse as a currour schal come to thee, and thi beggerie as an armed man.
[soon] you will become poor; [it will be as though] [PRS, SIM] a bandit who had a weapon in his hand [attacked you and stole all that you had].
