Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, thou shalt consider well, what is before thee;
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 And shalt put a knife to thy throat, if, of great appetite, thou art:
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Do not crave his dainties, for, the same, are deceitful food.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Do not toil to get wealth, of thine own understanding, forbear:
Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou let thine eye fly thereupon, when it is nothing? for it will, surely make, itself wings, Like an eagle, will it wing its way across 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 Do not eat the food of him that hath a begrudging eye, neither crave thou his dainties;
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For, just as he hath thought in his own mind, so, he is: Eat and drink! he may say to thee, but, 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 As for thy morsel thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit it, so shalt thou waste thy things so sweet.
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 In the ears of a dullard, do not speak, for he will despise the good sense of thy words.
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Do not move back the ancient boundary, and, into the fields of the fatherless, do not enter;
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For, their near of kin, is strong, he, will plead their cause with thee.
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Bring, to correction, thy heart, and thine ears, to the sayings of knowledge.
Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold, from a child, correction, When thou smitest him with the rod, he shall not die:
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 be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 So shall my reins exult, when thy lips speak the things that are right.
Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thy heart be envious of sinners, only of the reverence of Yahweh, all day long;
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of YHWH all the day long.
18 For surely there is a future, and, thine expectation, shall not be 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 lead forward, in duty, thy heart.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Do not be among them who tipple with wine, —among them who are gluttons;
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For, the tippler and the glutton, shall come to poverty, and, rags, shall Slumber put on!
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father here, who begat thee, and despise not, when she is old, thy mother.
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Truth, buy thou, but do not sell, wisdom, and correction, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 Greatly shall exult, the father of a righteous man, and, he that begetteth a wise son, shall rejoice in him:
The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Rejoice shall thy father and thy mother, yea she, shall exult, who bare thee.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 Oh give, my son, thy mind unto me, and let, thine eyes, observe, my ways;
My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For, a deep chasm, is the unchaste woman, and, a narrow pit, the female unknown;
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Yea, she, as for prey, lieth in wait, and, the treacherous among mankind, she causeth to abound.
She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 Who hath woe? Who hath outcry of pain? Who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? Who hath needless wounds? Who hath dullness 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 They who tarry over wine, they who go in to search for mixed wine.
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Do not look on wine when it becometh red, when it giveth in the cup its sparkle, glideth down smoothly.
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 after effect, is that, like a serpent, it biteth, and, like a viper, it doth sting.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes, will see strange women, and, thy heart, will speak perverse things:
Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 So shalt thou become, as one lying down in the heart of the sea, —or as one lying down on the top of the mastgear:
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 felt no pain, They struck me down—I noticed it not, —When shall I wake up? I will go on, I will seek it, 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.
