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 words, and hide with you my commandments. [My] son, honour the Lord, and you shall be strong; and fear none but him:
2 Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.
keep my commandments, and you shall live; and [keep] my words as the pupils of [your] eyes.
3 Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.
And bind them on your fingers, and write [them] on the table of your heart.
4 Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.
Say that wisdom is your sister, and gain prudence as an acquaintance for yourself;
5 That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.
that she may keep you from the strange and wicked woman, if she should assail you with flattering words.
6 For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.
For she looks from a window out of her house into the streets, at one whom she may see of the senseless ones, a young man void of understanding,
7 I biholde a yong man coward,
passing by the corner in the passages near her house,
8 that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he
and speaking, in the dark of the evening,
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.
when there happens [to be] the stillness of night and of darkness:
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 meets him having the appearance of a harlot, that causes the hearts of young men to flutter.
11 and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
And she is fickle, and debauched, and her feet abide not at home.
12 and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
For at one time she wanders without, and at [another] time she lies in wait in the streets, at every corner.
13 And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;
Then she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said to him,
14 to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
I have a peace-offering; today I pay my vows:
15 Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.
therefore I came forth to meet you, desiring your face; [and] I have found you.
16 Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;
I have spread my bed with sheets, and I have covered it with double tapestry from Egypt.
17 Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
I have sprinkled my couch with saffron, and my house with cinnamon.
18 Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.
Come, and let us enjoy love until the morning; come, and let us embrace in love.
19 For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
For my husband is not at home, but is gone 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.
having taken in his hand a bundle of money: after many days he will return to his house.
21 Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
So with much converse she prevailed on him to go astray, and with the snares of her lips forced him from [the right path].
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,
And he followed her, being gently led on, and [that] as an ox is led to the slaughter, and as a dog to bonds, or as a hart shot in the liver with an arrow:
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.
and he hastens as a bird into a snare, not knowing that he is running for [his] life.
24 Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
Now then, [my] son, listen to me, and attend to the words 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 turn aside to her ways:
26 For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.
for she has wounded and cast down many, and those whom she has slain are innumerable.
