Proverbs 23
1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
Do not be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
Do not weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
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.
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 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
Do not eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and do not crave his delicacies,
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 about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
9 Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not 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 near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
Apply your heart to instruction, and your 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.
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 thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear the LORD all day long.
18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
Do not be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;
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 become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your 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. Get wisdom, discipline, 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 the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25 Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
26 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful 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 strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
Those who stay 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,
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 will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing 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.
Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
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 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 will look for more.”
