Opening the chapter…
A soft answere brekith ire; an hard word reisith woodnesse.
The tunge of wise men ourneth kunnyng; the mouth of foolis buylith out foli.
In ech place the iyen of the Lord biholden good men, and yuel men.
A plesaunt tunge is the tre of lijf; but the tunge which is vnmesurable, schal defoule the spirit.
A fool scorneth the techyng of his fadir; but he that kepith blamyngis, schal be maad wisere. Moost vertu schal be in plenteuouse riytfulnesse; but the thouytis of wickid men schulen be drawun vp bi the roote.
The hous of a iust man is moost strengthe; and disturbling is in the fruitis of a wickid man.
The lippis of wise men schulen sowe abrood kunnyng; the herte of foolis schal be vnlijc.
The sacrifices of wickyd men ben abhomynable to the Lord; avowis of iust men ben plesaunt.
The lijf of the vnpitouse man is abhomynacioun to the Lord; he that sueth riytfulnesse, schal be loued of the Lord.
Yuel teching is of men forsakinge the weie of lijf; he that hatith blamyngis, schal die.
Helle and perdicioun ben open bifor the Lord; hou myche more the hertis of sones of men.
A man ful of pestilence loueth not hym that repreueth him; and he goith not to wyse men.
A ioiful herte makith glad the face; the spirit is cast doun in the morenyng of soule.
The herte of a wijs man sekith techyng; and the mouth of foolis is fed with vnkunnyng.
Alle the daies of a pore man ben yuele; a sikir soule is a contynuel feeste.
Betere is a litil with the drede of the Lord, than many tresouris and vnfillable.
It is betere to be clepid to wortis with charite, than with hatrede to a calf maad fat.
A wrathful man reisith chidyngis; he that is pacient, swagith chidyngis reisid.
The weie of slow men is an hegge of thornes; the weie of iust men is with out hirtyng.
A wise sone makith glad the fadir; and a fonned man dispisith his modir.
Foli is ioye to a fool; and a prudent man schal dresse hise steppis.
Thouytis ben distried, where no counsel is; but where many counseleris ben, tho ben confermyd.
A man is glad in the sentence of his mouth; and a couenable word is best.
The path of lijf is on a lernyd man; that he bowe awei fro the laste helle.
The Lord schal distrie the hows of proude men; and he schal make stidefast the coostis of a widewe.
Iuele thouytis is abhomynacioun of the Lord; and a cleene word moost fair schal be maad stidfast of hym.
He that sueth aueryce, disturblith his hous; but he that hatith yiftis schal lyue. Synnes ben purgid bi merci and feith; ech man bowith awei fro yuel bi the drede of the Lord.
The soule of a iust man bithenkith obedience; the mouth of wickid men is ful of yuelis.
The Lord is fer fro wickid men; and he schal here the preyers of iust men.
The liyt of iyen makith glad the soule; good fame makith fat the boonys.
The eere that herith the blamyngis of lijf, schal dwelle in the myddis of wise men.
He that castith awei chastisyng, dispisith his soule; but he that assentith to blamyngis, is pesible holdere of the herte.
The drede of the Lord is teching of wisdom; and mekenesse goith bifore glorie.
Source
Wycliffe Bible (c.1395). Digital text: CrossWire SWORD module (from Wikisource / Wesley Center Online transcriptions). Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Source: CrossWire SWORD module Wycliffe (converted to USFM; no wording changed). Changes: reformatted for display (USFM to verses); no wording changed. Audio (including text-to-speech) and other adaptations are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. Middle English (c.1395).
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