Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you,
When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
5 When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.
6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
7 for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
For, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
8 You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.
My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
16 My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
23 Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
24 The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
25 May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
28 Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
31 Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:
And you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.
35 “They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”
And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”
