Proverbs 5

¹Mi sone, perseyue thou my wisdom, and bowe doun thin eere to my prudence; that thou kepe thi thouytis,

²and thi lippis kepe teching. Yyue thou not tent to the falsnesse of a womman;

³for the lippis of an hoore ben an hony coomb droppinge, and hir throte is clerere than oile;

⁴but the last thingis ben bittir as wormod, and hir tunge is scharp as a swerd keruynge on ech side.

⁵Hir feet gon doun in to deeth; and hir steppis persen to hellis.

⁶Tho goon not bi the path of lijf; hir steppis ben vncerteyn, and moun not be souyt out.

⁷Now therfor, my sone, here thou me, and go not awei fro the wordis of my mouth.

⁸Make fer thi weie fro hir, and neiye thou not to the doris of hir hous.

⁹Yyue thou not thin onour to aliens, and thi yeeris to the cruel;

¹⁰lest perauenture straungeris be fillid with thi strengthis, and lest thi trauels be in an alien hous;

¹¹and thou biweile in the laste daies, whanne thou hast wastid thi fleschis, and thi bodi; and thou seie,

¹²Whi wlatide Y teching, and myn herte assentide not to blamyngis;

¹³nether Y herde the voys of men techinge me, and Y bowide not doun myn eere to maistris?

¹⁴Almest Y was in al yuel, in the myddis of the chirche, and of the synagoge.

¹⁵Drinke thou watir of thi cisterne, and the floodis of thi pit.

¹⁶Thi wellis be stremed forth; and departe thi watris in stretis.

¹⁷Haue thou aloone `tho watris; and aliens be not thi parceneris.

¹⁸Thi veyne be blessid; and be thou glad with the womman of thi yong wexynge age.

¹⁹An hynde moost dereworthe; and an hert calf moost acceptable. Hir teetis fille thee in al tyme; and delite thou contynueli in the loue of hir.

²⁰Mi sone, whi art thou disseyued of an alien womman; and art fostrid in the bosum of an othere?

²¹The Lord seeth the weie of a man; and biholdith alle hise steppis.

²²The wickidnessis of a wyckid man taken hym; and he is boundun with the roopis of hise synnes.

²³He schal die, for he hadde not lernyng; and he schal be disseyued in the mychilnesse of his fooli.

¹My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

²That thou mayest regard discretion, and that thy lips may keep knowledge.

³For the lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil:

⁴But her end is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a twoedged sword.

⁵Her feet go down to death; her steps take hold on hell.

⁶Lest thou shouldest ponder the path of life, her ways are moveable, that thou canst not know them.

⁷Hear me now therefore, O ye children, and depart not from the words of my mouth.

⁸Remove thy way far from her, and come not nigh the door of her house:

⁹Lest thou give thine honour unto others, and thy years unto the cruel:

¹⁰Lest strangers be filled with thy wealth; and thy labours be in the house of a stranger;

¹¹And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,

¹²And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;

¹³And have not obeyed the voice of my teachers, nor inclined mine ear to them that instructed me!

¹⁴I was almost in all evil in the midst of the congregation and assembly.

¹⁵Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well.

¹⁶Let thy fountains be dispersed abroad, and rivers of waters in the streets.

¹⁷Let them be only thine own, and not strangers’ with thee.

¹⁸Let thy fountain be blessed: and rejoice with the wife of thy youth.

¹⁹Let her be as the loving hind and pleasant roe; let her breasts satisfy thee at all times; and be thou ravished always with her love.

²⁰And why wilt thou, my son, be ravished with a strange woman, and embrace the bosom of a stranger?

²¹For the ways of man are before the eyes of the Lord, and he pondereth all his goings.

²²His own iniquities shall take the wicked himself, and he shall be holden with the cords of his sins.

²³He shall die without instruction; and in the greatness of his folly he shall go astray.