Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,
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 your throat if you are a person who likes to eat a lot of food.
And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for it is the food of lies.
Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Do not work too hard to gain wealth; be wise enough to know when to stop.
Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money.
5 Will you let your eyes light upon it? It will be gone, for it will surely take up wings like an eagle and fly off to the sky.
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 Do not eat the food of one with an evil eye— and do not crave his delicacies,
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 for he is the kind of man who counts the price of the food. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
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 You will vomit up the little you have eaten and you will have wasted your compliments.
The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of orphans,
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 strong and he will plead their case against you.
For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold instruction from a child, for if you discipline him, he will 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 your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad;
My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of Yahweh all the day.
Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off.
For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear—you!—my son, and be wise and direct your heart in the way.
Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way.
20 Do not associate with drunkards, or with gluttonous eaters of meat,
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 become poor and slumber will clothe them 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 Listen to your father who begot you and do not despise your 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, but do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
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 the righteous person will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will be glad in 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 your father and your mother be glad and let her who bore you rejoice.
Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe my ways.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an immoral woman is a narrow well.
For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 She lies in wait like a robber and she increases the number of the treacherous among humanity.
Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has fights? Who has complaining? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 Those who linger over wine, those who try the mixed wine.
Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes 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 In the last it bites like a serpent and it stings like an adder.
In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 Your eyes will see strange things and your heart will utter perverse things.
Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 You will be as one who sleeps on the high seas or lies on 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 hit me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When will I wake up? I will seek another drink.”
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.
