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 considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,
2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
5 When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
6 Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to 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 hath thought in his soul, so [is] he, 'Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart [is] not with thee.
8 You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.
9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
11 for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to 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 youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.
My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
16 My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But — in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not 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 make happy in the way thy heart,
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth 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 hath become old.
23 Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
Truth buy, and sell not, 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 rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
25 May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine 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 strait pit.
28 Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
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 contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
32 In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
Its latter end — as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:
And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down 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, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake — I seek it yet again!'
