Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down for a meal with a ruler, look carefully at what is placed before you,
When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;
2 and cut down if you have a big appetite.
And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 Don't be greedy for his fancy food, for it's offered with deceptive motives.
Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich—be wise enough not to bother!
Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money.
5 It disappears in the blink of an eye, suddenly growing wings and flying off into the sky like an eagle.
Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.
6 Don't accept meal invitations from miserly people; don't be greedy for their fancy food,
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 for what they're thinking inside is what they really are. They say, “Come on, eat and drink!”—but in their minds they don't really care about you.
For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 You'll vomit up the little pieces you've eaten, and your kind words of appreciation will be wasted.
The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 Don't talk to stupid people because they'll ridicule your wise words.
Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Don't move ancient boundary markers, and don't encroach on fields belonging to orphans,
Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;
11 for their Protector is powerful and he will plead their case against you.
For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Focus your mind on instruction; listen intently to words of knowledge.
Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Don't keep from disciplining your children—a beating won't kill them.
Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.
Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if you think wisely then I'll be happy;
My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 I'll be delighted when you say what's right.
And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Don't think enviously of sinners, but always remember to honor the Lord,
Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 for there's definitely a future for you, and your hope will not be crushed.
For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Pay attention, my son, and be wise; make sure your mind concentrates on following the right way.
Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way.
20 Don't join in with people who drink too much wine or who stuff themselves with meat.
Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:
21 For people who get drunk and overeat lose all they've got, and they spend so much time dozing that all they have left to wear is rags.
For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.
22 Pay attention to your father, and don't disregard your mother when she's old.
Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.
23 Invest in truth—and don't sell it! Invest in wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
24 Children who do right make their fathers very happy; a wise son brings joy to his father.
The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.
25 Make your father and mother happy; bring joy to her who gave birth to you.
Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 My son, give me your undivided attention, and cheerfully follow my example.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 A prostitute is like being trapped in a pit; an immoral woman is like getting stuck a narrow well,
For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 Like a robber, she lies in wait ready to ambush men and make more of them unfaithful to their wives.
Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 Who's in trouble? Who's in pain? Who's arguing? Who's complaining? Who's injured for no reason? Who's got bloodshot eyes?
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 —those who spend a long time drinking wine, those who are always trying some new cocktail.
Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Don't let the look of wine tempt you—how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smooth it feels as it goes down.
Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:
32 In the end it bites like a serpent, it stings like a snake.
In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 You'll hallucinate, seeing strange things, and your confused mind will make you say all kinds of craziness.
Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 You'll stumble around like you're on the rolling ocean, you'll be tossed about like someone lying down at the top of a ship's mast, saying,
Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.
35 “People punched me, but it didn't hurt me; they beat me, but I didn't feel a thing. I've got to get up because I need another drink.”
They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
