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, thou shalt consider well, what is before thee;
2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
And shalt put a knife to thy throat, if, of great appetite, thou art:
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Do not crave his dainties, for, the same, are deceitful food.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
Do not toil to get wealth, of thine own understanding, forbear:
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 eye fly thereupon, when it is nothing? for it will, surely make, itself wings, Like an eagle, will it wing its way across the heavens.
6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
Do not eat the food of him that hath a begrudging eye, neither crave thou 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, just as he hath thought in his own mind, so, he is: Eat and drink! he may say to thee, but, his heart, is not with thee.
8 You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
As for thy morsel thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit it, so shalt thou waste thy things so sweet.
9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
In the ears of a dullard, do not speak, for he will despise the good sense of thy words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Do not move back the ancient boundary, and, into the fields of the fatherless, do not enter;
11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
For, their near of kin, is strong, he, will plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Bring, to correction, thy heart, and thine 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.
Do not withhold, from a child, correction, When thou smitest him with the rod, he shall not die:
Thou, with the rod, shalt smite him, and, his soul from hades, shalt thou deliver. (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.
So shall my reins exult, when thy lips speak the things that are right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
Let not thy heart be envious of sinners, only of the reverence of Yahweh, all day long;
18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
For surely there is a future, 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 lead forward, in duty, thy heart.
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
Do not be among them who tipple with wine, —among them who are gluttons;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
For, the tippler and the glutton, shall come to poverty, and, rags, shall Slumber put on!
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father here, who begat thee, and despise not, when she is old, thy mother.
23 Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Truth, buy thou, but do not sell, wisdom, and correction, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
Greatly shall exult, the father of a righteous man, and, he that begetteth a wise son, shall rejoice in him:
25 May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
Rejoice shall thy father and thy mother, yea she, shall exult, who bare thee.
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
Oh give, my son, thy mind unto me, and let, thine eyes, observe, my ways;
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
For, a deep chasm, is the unchaste woman, and, a narrow pit, the female unknown;
28 Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
Yea, she, as for prey, lieth in wait, and, the treacherous among mankind, she causeth to abound.
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 outcry of pain? Who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? Who hath needless wounds? Who hath dullness of eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
They who tarry over wine, they who go in to search for mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
Do not look on wine when it becometh red, when it giveth in the cup its sparkle, glideth down smoothly.
32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
Its after effect, is that, like a serpent, it biteth, and, like a viper, it doth sting.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
Thine eyes, will see strange women, 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:
So shalt thou become, as one lying down in the heart of the sea, —or as one lying down on the top of the mastgear:
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—I felt no pain, They struck me down—I noticed it not, —When shall I wake up? I will go on, I will seek it, again!
