Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
2 and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.
3 Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
Do not be desirous of his dainties, seeing they are deceitful food.
4 Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
5 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.
Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
6 Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies:
7 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.
for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. "Eat and drink." he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.
9 Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
Do not move the ancient boundary stone. Do not encroach on the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
12 Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
Do not withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine:
16 And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
yes, my heart will rejoice, when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
Do not let your heart envy sinners; but rather fear the LORD all the day long.
18 For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path.
20 Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:
21 For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22 Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
Buy the truth, and do not sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24 The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
Let your father and your mother be glad. Let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
27 For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
Do not look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
32 but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
In the end, it bites like a serpent, and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34 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.
Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
35 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?”
"They hit me, and I was not hurt. They beat me, and I do not feel it. When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."
