Proverbs 23
1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider well what is before thee;
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, If thou art a man given to appetite!
3 Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
Long not for his dainties. For they are deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
Toil not to become rich; Cease from this, thy wisdom.
5 Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.
Wilt thou let thine eyes fly toward them? They are gone! For riches truly make to themselves wings; They fly away like the eagle toward heaven.
6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, And long not for his dainties;
7 Because like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind 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 The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
The morsel, which thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit up; And thou wilt have thrown away thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
Speak not in the ears of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
Remove not the ancient landmark, And enter not into the fields of the fatherless!
11 For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
For their avenger is mighty; He will maintain their cause against thee.
12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
Apply thy heart to instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Withhold not correction from a child; If thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Beat him thyself with the rod, And thou shalt rescue him from the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart shall rejoice, even mine;
16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
Yea, my reins shall exult, When thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
Let not thy heart envy sinners, But continue thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long;
18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
For surely there shall be a reward, And thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise; And let thy heart go forward in the way!
20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
Be not thou among winebibbers, And riotous eaters of flesh;
21 Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; Buy wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
The father of a righteous man shall greatly rejoice; Yea, he who begetteth a wise child shall have joy in him.
25 Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
Let thy father and thy mother have joy; Yea, let her that bore thee rejoice!
26 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
My son, give me thy heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways!
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For a harlot is a deep ditch; Yea, a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
Like a robber she lieth in wait, And increaseth the treacherous among men.
29 Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who anxiety? Who wounds without cause? Who dimness of eyes?
30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
They that tarry long at the wine; They that go in to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly.
32 But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.
33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Thine eyes will look upon strange women, And thy heart will utter perverse things.
34 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
Yea, thou shalt be as one that lieth down in the midst of the sea, And as one that lieth down upon the top of a mast.
35 And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?
They have stricken me [[shalt thou say]], —I suffered no pain! They have beaten me, —I felt it not! When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
