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 down to eat a meal with a (government official/king), think carefully about what (OR, who) is in front of you.
2 and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
[Even] if you (have a big appetite/want to eat a lot of food), restrain yourself.
3 Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
Do not want to eat [a lot of] his fine food, because he may be trying to trick you.
4 Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
Do not [cause yourself to become very tired by] working very hard to become rich; be wise and stop doing that,
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.
because as soon as you look [MTY] at [all the money that you have acquired], it will be gone; it will [disappear as if it] suddenly grew wings [SIM] and flew up into the sky like an eagle.
6 Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
[If] someone who is stingy [invites you to a meal], do not eat [a lot of] his fine food,
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.
because he will be thinking about how much [the food cost that you are eating]. He [will] say to you, “Eat and drink all that you want!”, but that is not what he [will] really be thinking.
8 The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
[When you realize what he is really thinking, it will cause you to want to] vomit what you have eaten; and your kind words [telling him that you are enjoying the meal] will be wasted.
9 Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
(Do not [waste time by]/It is useless) talking to foolish people; they will [only] despise the wise things that you say.
10 Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
Do not [steal someone’s property by] removing a boundary marker that has been there for a long time, and do not take for yourself the land that belongs to orphans,
11 For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
because Yahweh is strong, and he is [like] a relative that has the responsibility to defend them, he will [stand up in court and] argue for them and against you.
12 Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
Pay attention to what [your teachers] teach you, and try to learn from the wise things that they say.
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 refuse to discipline your children; if you punish/spank them, it will not cause them to die,
and it may save them from [going to] the place where dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
My son/child, if you [SYN] become wise, I [SYN] will be very happy.
16 And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
I [SYN] will rejoice when I hear you [SYN] say what is right/wise.
17 Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
Do not envy sinful people; instead, revere Yahweh all of your life.
18 For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
[If you do that], you will be happy in the future, and [God] will certainly [do for you what you are] confidently expecting him to do.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
My son/child, listen carefully to me and become wise, and think about (all that you do/your behavior).
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 associate with those who drink a lot of (wine/strong drink) or with those who (are gluttons/eat more than they should),
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.
because drunkards and gluttons will become poor; and if all that you do is eat and sleep, you will [soon] (be wearing rags/not have any money to buy clothes).
22 Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
Pay attention to what your father tells you, and (do not neglect/take care of) [LIT] your mother when she is old.
23 Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
Try to know/learn what is wise, and get good instruction and understanding; and do not throw those things away.
24 The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
Righteous [children] will cause their parents to be very happy; those whose children are wise are proud of them.
25 Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
[Do what will] cause your father to be glad and enable your mother [also] to be happy.
26 My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
My son, heed what I say to you, and allow what I do to be an example for you.
27 For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
Prostitutes and immoral women [DOU] are [like] [MET] a deep pit or a well [that you may fall into].
28 She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
They wait [for you] like robbers [SIM], and they cause many men to (be unfaithful to/have sex with women who are not) their wives.
29 Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
I will tell you [RHQ] what kind of people are always miserable and sad. I will tell you [RHQ] which people are always causing arguments/quarrels and who are always complaining. I will tell you [RHQ] who are injured in fights and whose eyes are always red/bloodshot.
30 Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
[It is] those who drink a lot of wine, who try drinking other kinds of strong drinks.
31 Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
Do not look with pleasure at red wine that looks nice, and which sparkles when it is [poured out] into cups, and which tastes good as you drink it,
32 but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
because the next morning [you will feel like] you have been bitten by a poisonous snake [DOU].
33 Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
You [SYN] will [think that you are] seeing strange/weird things, and you [SYN] will not be able to think clearly or speak clearly.
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.
You will think you are in a ship that is tossing on the sea; you be like [SIM] someone who is trying to sleep when the ship is rolling from one side to the other.
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?”
You will say, “[I think that] someone struck me, but he did not hurt me; he hit me, but I did not feel it. When will I (wake up/feel normal again) in order that I can drink some more wine?”
