Proverbs 5
1 Mi sone, perseyue thou my wisdom, and bowe doun thin eere to my prudence; that thou kepe thi thouytis,
My son, attend to my wisdom, and bow your ear to my understanding:
2 and thi lippis kepe teching. Yyue thou not tent to the falsnesse of a womman;
That you may regard discretion, and that your lips may keep knowledge.
3 for the lippis of an hoore ben an hony coomb droppinge, and hir throte is clerere than oile;
For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:
4 but the last thingis ben bittir as wormod, and hir tunge is scharp as a swerd keruynge on ech side.
But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a two-edged sword.
Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell. (Sheol h7585)
6 Tho goon not bi the path of lijf; hir steppis ben vncerteyn, and moun not be souyt out.
Lest you should ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that you can not know them.
7 Now therfor, my sone, here thou me, and go not awei fro the wordis of my mouth.
Hear me now therefore, O you children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.
8 Make fer thi weie fro hir, and neiye thou not to the doris of hir hous.
Remove your way far from her, and come not near the door of her house:
9 Yyue thou not thin onour to aliens, and thi yeeris to the cruel;
Lest you give your honor to others, and your years to the cruel:
10 lest perauenture straungeris be fillid with thi strengthis, and lest thi trauels be in an alien hous;
Lest strangers be filled with your wealth; and your labors be in the house of a stranger;
11 and thou biweile in the laste daies, whanne thou hast wastid thi fleschis, and thi bodi; and thou seie,
And you mourn at the last, when your flesh and your body are consumed,
12 Whi wlatide Y teching, and myn herte assentide not to blamyngis;
And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
13 nether Y herde the voys of men techinge me, and Y bowide not doun myn eere to maistris?
And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined my ear to them that instructed me!
14 Almest Y was in al yuel, in the myddis of the chirche, and of the synagoge.
I was almost in all evil in the middle of the congregation and assembly.
15 Drinke thou watir of thi cisterne, and the floodis of thi pit.
Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well.
16 Thi wellis be stremed forth; and departe thi watris in stretis.
Let your fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.
17 Haue thou aloone `tho watris; and aliens be not thi parceneris.
Let them be only your own, and not strangers’ with you.
18 Thi veyne be blessid; and be thou glad with the womman of thi yong wexynge age.
Let your fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of your youth.
19 An hynde moost dereworthe; and an hert calf moost acceptable. Hir teetis fille thee in al tyme; and delite thou contynueli in the loue of hir.
Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy you at all times; and be you ravished always with her love.
20 Mi sone, whi art thou disseyued of an alien womman; and art fostrid in the bosum of an othere?
And why will you, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?
21 The Lord seeth the weie of a man; and biholdith alle hise steppis.
For the ways of man are before the eyes of the LORD, and he ponders all his goings.
22 The wickidnessis of a wyckid man taken hym; and he is boundun with the roopis of hise synnes.
His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be held with the cords of his sins.
23 He schal die, for he hadde not lernyng; and he schal be disseyued in the mychilnesse of his fooli.
He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.
