Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [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 [art] 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: for they [are] deceitful food.
desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
4 Labor not to be rich: cease from thy own wisdom.
If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; but refrain thyself in thy wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make to themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle towards 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 in his heart, 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 ears 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 old 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] mighty; he will plead their cause with thee.
for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thy heart to instruction, and thy 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 beatest him with the rod, he shall 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 shall rejoice, even mine.
Son, if thy heart be wise, thou shalt also gladden my heart;
16 Yes, my reins shall 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 the LORD 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 an end; and thy expectation 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 wine-bibbers; among riotous 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 shall 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 to 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; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy of him.
A righteous father brings up [his children] well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall 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 thy eyes observe my ways.
[My] son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a lewd woman [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
28 She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth the transgressors 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 babbling? 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 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 giveth its color in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.
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 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, then thy mouth shall speak perverse things.
34 And 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, [wilt 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.
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?
