< 箴言 23 >
If thou sit to sup at the table of a prince, consider attentively the things set before thee:
and apply thine hand, knowing that it behoves thee to prepare such [meats]: but if thou art very insatiable,
desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; but refrain thyself in thy wisdom.
5 你豈要定睛在虛無的錢財上嗎? 因錢財必長翅膀,如鷹向天飛去。
If thou shouldest fix thine eye upon him, he will disappear; for wings like an eagle's are prepared for him, and he returns to the house of his master.
Sup not with an envious man, neither desire thou his meats:
7 因為他心怎樣思量, 他為人就是怎樣。 他雖對你說,請吃,請喝, 他的心卻與你相背。
so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
8 你所吃的那點食物必吐出來; 你所說的甘美言語也必落空。
for he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.
9 你不要說話給愚昧人聽, 因他必藐視你智慧的言語。
Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at thy wise words.
10 不可挪移古時的地界, 也不可侵入孤兒的田地;
Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:
11 因他們的救贖主大有能力, 他必向你為他們辨屈。
for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their cause with thee.
Apply thine heart to instruction, and prepare thine ears for words of discretion.
13 不可不管教孩童; 你用杖打他,他必不至於死。
Refrain not from chastening a child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 你要用杖打他, 就可以救他的靈魂免下陰間。 (Sheol )
For thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from death. (Sheol )
Son, if thy heart be wise, thou shalt also gladden my heart;
and thy lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day.
For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have posterity; and thine hope shall not be removed.
19 我兒,你當聽,當存智慧, 好在正道上引導你的心。
Hear, [my] son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of thine heart.
Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
21 因為好酒貪食的,必致貧窮; 好睡覺的,必穿破爛衣服。
for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
22 你要聽從生你的父親; 你母親老了,也不可藐視她。
Hearken, [my] son, to thy father which begot thee, and despise not [thy mother] because she is grown old.
23 你當買真理; 就是智慧、訓誨,和聰明也都不可賣。
24 義人的父親必大得快樂; 人生智慧的兒子,必因他歡喜。
A righteous father brings up [his children] well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, and let her that bore thee be glad.
26 我兒,要將你的心歸我; 你的眼目也要喜悅我的道路。
[My] son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be cut off.
29 誰有禍患?誰有憂愁? 誰有爭鬥?誰有哀歎? 誰無故受傷?誰眼目紅赤?
Who [has] woe? who trouble? who [has] quarrels? and who vexations and disputes? who [has] bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
Are not those of them that stay long at wine? [are] not [those] of them that haunt [the places] where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse [with them] openly.
31 酒發紅,在杯中閃爍, 你不可觀看, 雖然下咽舒暢, 終久是咬你如蛇,刺你如毒蛇。
For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, thou shalt afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
But at last [such a one] stretches himself out as one smitten by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, then thy mouth shall speak perverse things.
And thou shalt lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm.
35 你必說:人打我,我卻未受傷; 人鞭打我,我竟不覺得。 我幾時清醒,我仍去尋酒。
And thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained; and they mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?