Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
幾時你與首長坐席，應記著，在你面前的是誰。
2 and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
你若過於貪食，應在咽喉上，放上一把刀。
3 Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
休要羨慕他的珍饈，因那是騙人的食品。
4 Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
不要辛苦企求致富，反應放棄這種企圖。
5 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.
你向之一注目，即不再存在了：它會生出翅膀，如鷹向天飛去。
6 Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
不要與虎視眈眈的人進食，也不要羨慕他的山珍海味，
7 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.
因為他原是只顧自己的人，他口頭雖對你說「請吃請喝! 」但他的心中並不與你友善；
8 The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
你吃下的那口食物，還得吐出；你婉轉悅耳的言辭，盡屬枉費。
9 Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
不要與愚人交耳接談，因他必輕視你的高見。
10 Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
不要移動孀婦的地界，不要侵佔孤兒的田地；
11 For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
因為他們的辯護者是大能的，他必為他們的案件與你爭辯。
12 Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
你應專心接受教訓，傾耳細聽益智之言。
13 Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
對孩童不可忽略懲戒；用棍打他，他不致死去。
你用棍杖打他，是救他的靈魂免下陰府。 (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
我兒，你若心懷智慧，我也誠心喜樂；
16 And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
你的唇舌若談吐正義的事，我的五衷也必會踴躍歡欣。
17 Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
心裏不要羨慕罪人，卻要日日敬畏上主；
18 For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
這樣你的將來必然順利，你的希望絕不落空。
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
我兒，你要聽話，作個明智人；且要引領你的心走上正道。
20 Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
貪嗜酒肉的人，不可與之來往；
21 For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
因為嗜酒貪食的人，必陷於窮困；貪懶好睡的人，必衣著襤褸。
22 Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
對生養你的父親，應當聽從；對你年邁的母親，不可輕視。
23 Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
應獲取真理，不可出賣，還有智慧、訓誨和見識。
24 The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
義人的父親，必欣然喜樂；生育慧子的，必為此歡騰。
25 Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
應使你的父親因你而喜悅，應使你的生母因你而快樂。
26 My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
我兒，將你的心交給我，注目於我的道路：
27 For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
妓女是一個深坑，淫婦是一個陷阱；
28 She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
她潛伏著，實如強盜，使人世間，增添奸夫。
29 Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
是誰將哀鳴，是誰將悲嘆﹖是誰將爭吵，是誰將抱怨﹖是誰將無故受傷，是誰將雙目赤紅﹖
30 Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
是那流連於醉鄉，去搜求醇酒的人。
31 Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
你不要注視酒色怎樣紅，在杯中怎樣閃耀，飲下去怎樣痛快!
32 but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
終究它要咬人如蛇，刺人如虺。
33 Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
那時，你的眼要見到奇景，你的心要吐出狂語。
34 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.
你宛如躺在海中心，睡在桅杆頂。「
35 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?”
人打我，我不痛，人捶我，我不覺；我何時甦醒，好再去尋醉! 」
