Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee:
2 And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [be] a man given to appetite.
3 Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they [are] deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
Eat thou not the bread of [him that hath] an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he hath thought in his soul, so [is] he, 'Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart [is] not with thee.
For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart [is] not with thee.
8 Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.
The morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
For their redeemer [is] mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
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 hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But — in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.
For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
Buy the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy of him.
25 Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch 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 strange woman [is] a strait pit.
For a whore [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.
32 Its latter end — as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
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.
35 'They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake — I seek it yet again!'
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.
