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 sonne, keepe my wordes, and hide my commandements with thee.
2 Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.
Keepe my commandements, and thou shalt liue, and mine instruction as the apple of thine eyes.
3 Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.
Binde them vpon thy fingers, and write them vpon the table of thine heart.
4 Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.
Say vnto wisedome, Thou art my sister: and call vnderstanding thy kinswoman,
5 That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.
That they may keepe thee from the strange woman, euen from the stranger that is smoothe in her wordes.
6 For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.
As I was in the window of mine house, I looked through my windowe,
7 I biholde a yong man coward,
And I sawe among the fooles, and considered among the children a yong man destitute of vnderstanding,
8 that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he
Who passed through the streete by her corner, and went toward 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 euening, when the night began to be blacke and darke.
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 beholde, there met him a woman with an harlots behauiour, and subtill in heart.
11 and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
(She is babling and loud: whose feete can not abide in her house.
12 and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
Nowe she is without, nowe in the streetes, and lyeth in waite at euery corner)
13 And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;
So she caught him and kissed him and with an impudent face said vnto him,
14 to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
I haue peace offerings: this day haue I payed my vowes.
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 meete thee, that I might seeke thy face: and I haue found thee.
16 Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;
I haue deckt my bed with ornaments, carpets and laces of Egypt.
17 Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
I haue perfumed my bedde with myrrhe, aloes, and cynamom.
18 Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.
Come, let vs take our fill of loue vntill the morning: let vs take our pleasure in daliance.
19 For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
For mine husband is not at home: he is gone a iourney farre off.
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 with him a bagge of siluer, and will come home at the day appointed.
21 Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
Thus with her great craft she caused him to yeelde, and with her flattering lips she entised 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,
And he followed her straight wayes, as an oxe that goeth to the slaughter, and as a foole to the stockes for correction,
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 a dart strike through his liuer, as a bird hasteth to the snare, not knowing that he is in danger.
24 Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
Heare me now therefore, O children, and hearken to the wordes 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 thine heart decline to her wayes: wander thou not in her paths.
26 For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.
For shee hath caused many to fall downe wounded, and the strong men are all slaine by her.
