Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who is before thee;
When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;
2 and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.
Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:
Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money.
5 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.
Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.
6 Eat thou not the food of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties.
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 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.
For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted thy sweet words.
The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 Speak not in the ears of a foolish [man], for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;
11 for their redeemer is mighty; he will plead their cause against thee.
For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child; for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die:
Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.
Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine;
My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.
And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners, but [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day;
Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 for surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.
Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way.
20 Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh.
Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags.
For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
24 The father of a righteous [man] shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise [son] shall have joy of him:
The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.
25 let thy father and thy mother have joy, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.
Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes?
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 — They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.
Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly:
Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:
32 at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;
Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 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:
Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.
35 — “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.”
They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
