Proverbs 23
1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well him that 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; seeing they are deceitful food.
4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
Weary not thyself to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom.
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.
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone; for riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither 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 one that hath reckoned within himself, so is he: 'Eat and drink', saith he 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 hast eaten shalt thou 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 ears 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 with thee.
12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
Apply thy heart unto 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 though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Thou beatest him with the rod, and wilt deliver his soul from the nether-world. (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 reins 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 in the fear of the LORD all the day;
18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
For surely there is a future; 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 shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken unto thy father that 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 sell it not; also 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 the righteous will greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child 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 that 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 observe 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 alien 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.
She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the faithless 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 crieth: 'Woe'? who: 'Alas'? who hath contentions? who hath raving? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try 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 giveth its colour in the cup, when it glideth down smoothly;
32 But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like a basilisk.
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 confused 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 shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth 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 struck me, and I felt it not, they have beaten me, and I knew it not; when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.'
