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 well what is before thee;
2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, If thou art a man given to appetite!
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Long not for his dainties. For they are deceitful meat.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
Toil not to become rich; Cease from this, thy wisdom.
5 When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
Wilt thou let thine eyes fly toward them? They are gone! For riches truly make to themselves wings; They fly away like the eagle toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, And long not for his dainties;
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 he thinketh in his heart, so is he. “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.
The morsel, which thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit up; And thou wilt have thrown away thy sweet words.
9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Speak not in the ears of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom 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 enter not into the fields of the fatherless!
11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
For their avenger is mighty; He will maintain their cause against thee.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Apply thy heart to instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
Withhold not correction from a child; If thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Beat him thyself with the rod, And thou shalt rescue him from the underworld. (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.
Yea, my reins shall exult, When thy lips speak right things.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
Let not thy heart envy sinners, But continue thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long;
18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
For surely there shall be a reward, And thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise; And let thy heart go forward in the way!
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
Be not thou among winebibbers, And riotous eaters of 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 shall come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; Buy 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 a righteous man shall greatly rejoice; Yea, he who begetteth a wise child shall have joy in him.
25 May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
Let thy father and thy mother have joy; Yea, let her that bore thee rejoice!
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
My son, give me thy heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways!
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
For a harlot is a deep ditch; Yea, a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
Like a robber she lieth in wait, And 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 contentions? Who anxiety? Who wounds without cause? Who dimness of eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
They that tarry long at the wine; They that go in to seek mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly.
32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
Thine eyes will look upon strange women, And thy heart will utter perverse things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:
Yea, thou shalt be as one that lieth down in the midst of the sea, And as one that lieth down upon 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 have stricken me [[shalt thou say]], —I suffered no pain! They have beaten me, —I felt it not! When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
