Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you,
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
For thou puttest a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man of a craving desire.
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Do not long for his savory meats; they are deceitful food.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
Fatigue thyself not to become rich; because thou hast understanding, forbear.
5 When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
When thou lettest merely thy eyes fly over it, it is no more: for it will ever make itself wings: like an eagle will it fly toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
Eat not the bread of a man with an evil eye, and do not long for his savory meats;
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 as though there were a division in his soul, so doth he act: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou spit out, and thou hast wasted thy pleasant words.
9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Speak not before the ears of a fool; for he will despise the intelligence of thy words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Remove not the ancient landmark, and into the fields of the fatherless must thou not enter;
11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
For their redeemer is strong; he will indeed plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thy ears to the sayings of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
Withhold not from a lad correction; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Thou wilt indeed beat him with the rod; but thou wilt deliver his soul from perdition. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.
My son, If thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
And my reins shall exult when thy lips speak what is equitable.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
Let not thy heart be envious against sinners; but [remain] in the fear of the lord all the time.
18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
For surely there is a future, and thy hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.
Hear thou, my son, and become wise, and guide thy heart on the right way.
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
Be not among those that drink wine immoderately, among those that over-indulge in eating flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth a man in rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Hearken unto thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother although she be old.
23 Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Buy the truth and sell it not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and 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 righteous will be greatly glad, and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy through him.
25 May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
Let [then] thy father and thy mother rejoice, and let her that hath born thee be glad.
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
Give, my son, thy heart unto me, and let thy eyes watch my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow well.
28 Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
She also lieth in wait like a robber, and she increaseth the treacherous among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath quarrels? who hath complaints? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
They that tarry late over the wine: they that come to seek for mixed drink.
31 Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
Do not look on the wine when it looketh red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it glideth down so readily.
32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
At the last it will bite like a serpent, and like a basilisk will it sting.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
Thy eyes will see strange forms, and thy heart will speak perverse things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:
And thou wilt be like one that lieth down in the heart of the sea, or as he that lieth on the top of a mast.
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?”
“They smote me, [but] I suffered no pain; they struck me hard, [but] I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will continue to seek it again.”
