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 lay up my commandments with thee.
2 Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.
Keep my commandments, and live; and my teaching, as the apple of thine eye.
3 Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.
Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the tablet of thy heart.
4 Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.
Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister, and call intelligence [thy] kinswoman:
5 That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.
that they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger who flattereth with her words.
6 For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.
For at the window of my house, I looked forth through my lattice,
7 I biholde a yong man coward,
and I beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the sons, a young man void of understanding,
8 that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he
passing through the street near her corner; and he went 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.
in the twilight, in the evening of the day, in the blackness of night and the 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 behold, there met him a woman in the attire of a harlot, and subtle of heart.
11 and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
She is clamorous and unmanageable; her feet abide not in her house:
12 and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
now without, now in the broadways, — and she lieth in wait at every corner.
13 And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;
And she caught him and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,
14 to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
I have peace-offerings with me; this day have I paid my vows:
15 Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.
therefore came I forth to meet thee, to seek earnestly thy face, and I have found thee.
16 Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;
I have decked my bed with tapestry coverlets of variegated linen from Egypt;
17 Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
I have perfumed my couch with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.
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 revel in love until the morning, let us delight ourselves with loves.
19 For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
For the husband is not at home, he is gone 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 hath taken the money-bag with him, he will come home on the day of the full moon.
21 Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
With her much enticement she beguiled him; with the smoothness of her lips she constrained him.
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,
He went after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, and as stocks [serve] for the correction of the fool;
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.
till an arrow strike through his liver: as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for its life.
24 Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
And now, ye sons, hearken unto 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 thy heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths:
26 For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.
for she hath cast down many wounded, and all slain by her were strong.
