Proverbs 23
1 When thou sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently him who is before thee,
When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite.
And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Weary not thyself to be rich. Out of thine own wisdom, cease.
Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
5 Will thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For it certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward heaven.
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.
6 Eat thou not the bread of an evil eye, nor desire thou his dainties.
Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
7 For as he thinks within himself, so is he. Eat and drink, he says to thee, but his heart is not with thee.
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.
8 The morsel which thou have eaten thou shall vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 Speak not in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark. And enter not into the fields of the fatherless,
Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
11 for their Redeemer is strong. He will plead their cause against thee.
For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Apply thy heart to instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart will be glad, even mine.
My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 Yea, my heart will rejoice when thy lips speak right things.
And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long.
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
18 For surely there is a reward, and thy hope shall not be cut off.
Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers, among gluttonous eaters of flesh.
Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father who begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and do not sell it, yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise son will have joy of him.
The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her who bore thee rejoice.
Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch, and an interloping woman is a narrow pit.
For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Yea, she lies in wait as a robber, and increases the treacherous among men.
She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 Those who tarry long at the wine. Those who go to seek out mixed wine.
Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
32 At the end it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shall be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies upon the top of a mast.
And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
35 They have stricken me, thou shall say, and I was not hurt. They have beaten me, and I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
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?
