Proverbs 23
1 WHEN thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, thou shalt consider well, what is before thee;
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
And shalt put a knife to thy throat, if, of great appetite, thou art:
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
Do not crave his dainties, for, the same, are deceitful food.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
Do not toil to get wealth, of thine own understanding, forbear:
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
Wilt thou let thine eye fly thereupon, when it is nothing? for it will, surely make, itself wings, Like an eagle, will it wing its way across the heavens.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
Do not eat the food of him that hath a begrudging eye, neither crave thou his dainties;
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
For, just as he hath thought in his own mind, so, he is: Eat and drink! he may say to thee, but, his heart, is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
As for thy morsel thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit it, so shalt thou waste thy things so sweet.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
In the ears of a dullard, do not speak, for he will despise the good sense of thy words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
Do not move back the ancient boundary, and, into the fields of the fatherless, do not enter;
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
For, their near of kin, is strong, he, will plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Bring, to correction, thy heart, and thine ears, to the sayings of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Do not withhold, from a child, correction, When thou smitest him with the rod, he shall not die:
Thou, with the rod, shalt smite him, and, his soul from hades, shalt thou deliver. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
My son! if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
So shall my reins exult, when thy lips speak the things that are right.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
Let not thy heart be envious of sinners, only of the reverence of Yahweh, all day long;
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
For surely there is a future, and, thine expectation, shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Hear, thou, my son, and be wise, and lead forward, in duty, thy heart.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
Do not be among them who tipple with wine, —among them who are gluttons;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
For, the tippler and the glutton, shall come to poverty, and, rags, shall Slumber put on!
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father here, who begat thee, and despise not, when she is old, thy mother.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Truth, buy thou, but do not sell, wisdom, and correction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
Greatly shall exult, the father of a righteous man, and, he that begetteth a wise son, shall rejoice in him:
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
Rejoice shall thy father and thy mother, yea she, shall exult, who bare thee.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Oh give, my son, thy mind unto me, and let, thine eyes, observe, my ways;
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For, a deep chasm, is the unchaste woman, and, a narrow pit, the female unknown;
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
Yea, she, as for prey, lieth in wait, and, the treacherous among mankind, she causeth to abound.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Who hath woe? Who hath outcry of pain? Who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? Who hath needless wounds? Who hath dullness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
They who tarry over wine, they who go in to search for mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
Do not look on wine when it becometh red, when it giveth in the cup its sparkle, glideth down smoothly.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Its after effect, is that, like a serpent, it biteth, and, like a viper, it doth sting.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
Thine eyes, will see strange women, and, thy heart, will 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.
So shalt thou become, as one lying down in the heart of the sea, —or as one lying down on the top of the mastgear:
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
They smote me—I felt no pain, They struck me down—I noticed it not, —When shall I wake up? I will go on, I will seek it, again!
