Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who is before thee;
2 put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.
4 Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:
5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.
6 Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies,
Eat thou not the food of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties.
7 for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
For as he thinketh in his soul, so is he. Eat and drink! will he say unto thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted thy sweet words.
9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Speak not in the ears of a foolish [man], for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
for their redeemer is mighty; he will plead their cause against thee.
12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Withhold not correction from the child; for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die:
thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine;
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear the LORD all day long.
Let not thy heart envy sinners, but [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day;
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
for surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.
20 Don’t be amongst ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;
Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh.
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.
24 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
The father of a righteous [man] shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise [son] shall have joy of him:
25 Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
let thy father and thy mother have joy, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful amongst men.
She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes?
30 Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.
— They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.
31 Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly:
32 In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;
34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
and thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down upon the top of a mast:
35 “They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I will look for more.”
— “They have smitten me, [and] I am not sore; they have beaten me, [and] I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.”
