Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that is before thee;
If thou sit to sup at the table of a prince, consider attentively the things set before thee:
2 And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite.
and apply thine hand, knowing that it behoves thee to prepare such [meats]: but if thou art very insatiable,
3 Be not desirous of his dainties; Seeing they are deceitful food.
desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
4 Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom.
If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; but refrain thyself in thy wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For [riches] certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
If thou shouldest fix thine eye upon him, he will disappear; for wings like an eagle's are prepared for him, and he returns to the house of his master.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties:
Sup not with an envious man, neither desire thou his meats:
7 For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.
so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words.
for he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.
9 Speak not in the hearing of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at thy wise words.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark; And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:
11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against thee.
for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Apply thine heart to instruction, and prepare thine ears for words of discretion.
13 Withhold not correction from the child; [For] if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Refrain not from chastening a child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
For thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from death. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine:
Son, if thy heart be wise, thou shalt also gladden my heart;
16 Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things.
and thy lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners; But [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 For surely there is a reward; And thy hope shall not be cut off.
For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have posterity; and thine hope shall not be removed.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thy heart in the way.
Hear, [my] son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of thine heart.
20 Be not among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:
Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe [a man] with rags.
for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken, [my] son, to thy father which begot thee, and despise not [thy mother] because she is grown old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; [Yea], wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.
A righteous father brings up [his children] well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice.
Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, and let her that bore thee be glad.
26 My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways.
[My] son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
28 Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men.
For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be cut off.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
Who [has] woe? who trouble? who [has] quarrels? and who vexations and disputes? who [has] bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek out mixed wine.
Are not those of them that stay long at wine? [are] not [those] of them that haunt [the places] where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse [with them] openly.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly:
For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, thou shalt afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.
But at last [such a one] stretches himself out as one smitten by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things, And thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, then thy mouth shall speak perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
And thou shalt lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm.
35 They have stricken me, [shalt thou say], and I was not hurt; They have beaten me, and I felt it not: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
And thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained; and they mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?
