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 table 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 understanding 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 alien woman that maketh smooth 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 thoughtless ones, I discerned among the youths, 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 with the attire of a harlot, and wily of heart.
11 and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;
She is riotous and rebellious, her feet abide not in her house;
12 and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.
Now she is in the streets, now in the broad places, and 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;
So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face she said unto him:
14 to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.
'Sacrifices of peace-offerings were due from 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 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 couch with coverlets, with striped cloths of the yarn of Egypt.
17 Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.
I have perfumed my bed 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 take our fill of love until the morning; let us solace ourselves with loves.
19 For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.
For my 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 bag of money with him; he will come home at the full moon.'
21 Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.
With her much fair speech she causeth him to yield, with the blandishment of her lips she enticeth him away.
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 goeth after her straightway, as an ox that goeth to the slaughter, or as one in fetters to 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 hasteneth to the snare — and knoweth not that it is at the cost of his life.
24 Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.
Now therefore, O ye children, 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; yea, a mighty host are all her slain.
