Proverbs 23
1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
When thou sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently him who is before thee,
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
and put a knife to thy throat if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
Be not desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
Weary not thyself to be rich. Out of thine own wisdom, cease.
5 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.
Will thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For it certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward heaven.
6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
Eat thou not the bread of an evil eye, nor desire thou his dainties.
7 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.
For as he thinks within himself, so is he. Eat and drink, he says to thee, but his heart is not with thee.
8 The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
The morsel which thou have eaten thou shall vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
Speak not in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
Remove not the ancient landmark. And enter not into the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
for their Redeemer is strong. He will plead their cause against thee.
12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
Apply thy heart to instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Withhold not correction from the child, for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Thou shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart will be glad, even mine.
16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
Yea, my heart will rejoice when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long.
18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
For surely there is a reward, and thy hope shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.
20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
Be not among winebibbers, among gluttonous eaters of flesh.
21 Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father who begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and do not sell it, yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise son will have joy of him.
25 Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her who bore thee rejoice.
26 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For a harlot is a deep ditch, and an interloping woman is a narrow pit.
28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
Yea, she lies in wait as a robber, and increases the treacherous among men.
29 Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
Those who tarry long at the wine. Those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31 Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
Look not thou upon 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 will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
At the end it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
Yea, thou shall be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he who lies upon the top of a mast.
35 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?
They have stricken me, thou shall say, and I was not hurt. They have beaten me, and I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
