Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
2 put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
3 Do not be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
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.
Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.
6 Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies,
Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
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, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
10 Do not move the ancient boundary stone. Do not encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
11 for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear the LORD all day long.
Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
20 Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;
Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
24 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
26 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
30 Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.
Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
31 Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
32 In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
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 you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.
35 “They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I do not feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I will look for more.”
And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”
