Proverbs 7
1 Mi sone, kepe thou my wordis; and kepe myn heestis to thee. Sone, onoure thou the Lord, and thou schalt be `myyti; but outakun hym drede thou not an alien.
My son, keep my sayings, and let my rules be stored up with you.
2 Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.
Keep my rules and you will have life; let my teaching be to you as the light of your eyes;
3 Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.
Let them be fixed to your fingers, and recorded in your heart.
4 Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.
Say to wisdom, You are my sister; let knowledge be named your special friend:
5 That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.
So that they may keep you from the strange woman, even from her whose words are smooth.
6 For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.
Looking out from my house, and watching through the window,
7 I biholde a yong man coward,
I saw among the young men one without sense,
8 that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he
Walking in the street near the turn of her road, going on the way to her house,
9 goith niy the weie of hir hous in derk tyme, whanne the dai drawith to niyt, in the derknessis and myst of the nyyt.
At nightfall, in the evening of the day, in the black dark of the night.
10 And lo! a womman, maad redi with ournement of an hoore to disseyue soulis, meetith hym, and sche is a ianglere, and goynge about,
And the woman came out to him, in the dress of a loose woman, with a designing heart;
11 and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
She is full of noise and uncontrolled; her feet keep not in her house.
12 and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
Now she is in the street, now in the open spaces, waiting at every turning of the road.
13 And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;
So she took him by his hand, kissing him, and without a sign of shame she said to him:
14 to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
I have a feast of peace-offerings, for today my oaths have been effected.
15 Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.
So I came out in the hope of meeting you, looking for you with care, and now I have you.
16 Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;
My bed is covered with cushions of needlework, with coloured cloths of the cotton thread of Egypt;
17 Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
I have made my bed sweet with perfumes and spices.
18 Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.
Come, let us take our pleasure in love till the morning, having joy in love's delights.
19 For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
For the master of the house is away on a long journey:
20 He took with hym a bagge of money; he schal turne ayen in to his hous in the dai of ful moone.
He has taken a bag of money with him; he is coming back at the full moon.
21 Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
With her fair words she overcame him, forcing him with her smooth lips.
22 Anoon he as an oxe led to slayn sacrifice sueth hir, and as a ioli lomb and vnkunnynge; and the fool woot not, that he is drawun to bondys,
The simple man goes after her, like an ox going to its death, like a roe pulled by a cord;
23 til an arowe perse his mawe. As if a brid hastith to the snare; and woot not, that it is don of the perel of his lijf.
Like a bird falling into a net; with no thought that his life is in danger, till an arrow goes into his side.
24 Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
So now, my sons, give ear to me; give attention to the sayings of my mouth;
25 Lest thi soule be drawun awei in the weies of hir; nether be thou disseyued in the pathis of hir.
Let not your heart be turned to her ways, do not go wandering in her footsteps.
26 For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.
For those wounded and made low by her are great in number; and all those who have come to their death through her are a great army.
