Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who is before thee;
When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.
Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:
Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
5 wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.
Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.
6 Eat thou not the food of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties.
Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his soul, so is he. Eat and drink! will he say unto thee; but his heart is not with thee.
Because like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.
8 Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted thy sweet words.
The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a foolish [man], for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
11 for their redeemer is mighty; he will plead their cause against thee.
For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child; for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die:
Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine;
My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.
And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners, but [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day;
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
18 for surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh.
Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags.
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous [man] shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise [son] shall have joy of him:
The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 let thy father and thy mother have joy, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.
She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
29 Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes?
Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 — They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.
Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
31 Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly:
Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
32 at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 and thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down upon the top of a mast:
And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
35 — “They have smitten me, [and] I am not sore; they have beaten me, [and] I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.”
And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?
