Proverbs 7

¹Mi 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.

²Kepe thou myn heestis, and thou schalt lyue; and my lawe as the appil of thin iyen.

³Bynde thou it in thi fyngris; write thou it in the tablis of thin herte.

⁴Seie thou to wisdom, Thou art my sistir; and clepe thou prudence thi frendesse.

⁵That it kepe thee fro a straunge womman; and fro an alien womman, that makith hir wordis swete.

⁶For whi fro the wyndow of myn hous bi the latijs Y bihelde; and Y se litle children.

⁷I biholde a yong man coward,

⁸that passith bi the stretis, bisidis the corner; and he

⁹goith niy the weie of hir hous in derk tyme, whanne the dai drawith to niyt, in the derknessis and myst of the nyyt.

¹⁰And lo! a womman, maad redi with ournement of an hoore to disseyue soulis, meetith hym, and sche is a ianglere, and goynge about,

¹¹and vnpacient of reste, and mai not stonde in the hous with hir feet;

¹²and now without forth, now in stretis, now bisidis corneris sche `aspieth.

¹³And sche takith, and kissith the yong man; and flaterith with wowynge cheer, and seith, Y ouyte sacrifices for heelthe;

¹⁴to dai Y haue yolde my vowis.

¹⁵Therfor Y yede out in to thi meetyng, and Y desiride to se thee; and Y haue founde thee.

¹⁶Y haue maad my bed with coordis, Y haue arayed with tapetis peyntid of Egipt;

¹⁷Y haue bispreynt my bed with myrre, and aloes, and canel.

¹⁸Come thou, be we fillid with tetis, and vse we collyngis that ben coueitid; til the dai bigynne to be cleer.

¹⁹For myn hosebonde is not in his hows; he is goon a ful long weie.

²⁰He took with hym a bagge of money; he schal turne ayen in to his hous in the dai of ful moone.

²¹Sche boonde hym with many wordis; and sche drow forth hym with flateryngis of lippis.

²²Anoon 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,

²³til 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.

²⁴Now therfor, my sone, here thou me; and perseyue the wordis of my mouth.

²⁵Lest thi soule be drawun awei in the weies of hir; nether be thou disseyued in the pathis of hir.

²⁶For sche castide doun many woundid men; and alle strongeste men weren slayn of hir.

²⁷The weies of helle is hir hous; and persen in to ynnere thingis of deeth.

Proverbs 7

¹My son, keep my words, and lay up my commandments with thee.

²Keep my commandments, and live; and my law as the apple of thine eye.

³Bind them upon thy fingers, write them upon the table of thine heart.

⁴Say unto wisdom, Thou art my sister; and call understanding thy kinswoman:

⁵That they may keep thee from the strange woman, from the stranger which flattereth with her words.

⁶For at the window of my house I looked through my casement,

⁷And beheld among the simple ones, I discerned among the youths, a young man void of understanding,

⁸Passing through the street near her corner; and he went the way to her house,

⁹In the twilight, in the evening, in the black and dark night:

¹⁰And, behold, there met him a woman with the attire of an harlot, and subtil of heart.

¹¹(She is loud and stubborn; her feet abide not in her house:

¹²Now is she without, now in the streets, and lieth in wait at every corner.)

¹³So she caught him, and kissed him, and with an impudent face said unto him,

¹⁴I have peace offerings with me; this day have I payed my vows.

¹⁵Therefore came I forth to meet thee, diligently to seek thy face, and I have found thee.

¹⁶I have decked my bed with coverings of tapestry, with carved works, with fine linen of Egypt.

¹⁷I have perfumed my bed with myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

¹⁸Come, let us take our fill of love until the morning: let us solace ourselves with loves.

¹⁹For the goodman is not at home, he is gone a long journey:

²⁰He hath taken a bag of money with him, and will come home at the day appointed.

²¹With her much fair speech she caused him to yield, with the flattering of her lips she forced him.

²²He goeth after her straightway, as an ox goeth to the slaughter, or as a fool to the correction of the stocks;

²³Till a dart strike through his liver; as a bird hasteth to the snare, and knoweth not that it is for his life.

²⁴Hearken unto me now therefore, O ye children, and attend to the words of my mouth.

²⁵Let not thine heart decline to her ways, go not astray in her paths.

²⁶For she hath cast down many wounded: yea, many strong men have been slain by her.

²⁷Her house is the way to hell, going down to the chambers of death.