Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down for a meal with a ruler, look carefully at what is placed before you,
When thou sittest to eate with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee,
2 and cut down if you have a big appetite.
And put the knife to thy throte, if thou be a man giuen to the appetite.
3 Don't be greedy for his fancy food, for it's offered with deceptive motives.
Be not desirous of his deintie meates: for it is a deceiuable meate.
4 Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich—be wise enough not to bother!
Trauaile not too much to be rich: but cease from thy wisdome.
5 It disappears in the blink of an eye, suddenly growing wings and flying off into the sky like an eagle.
Wilt thou cast thine eyes vpon it, which is nothing? for riches taketh her to her wings, as an eagle, and flyeth into the heauen.
6 Don't accept meal invitations from miserly people; don't be greedy for their fancy food,
Eate thou not the bread of him that hath an euil eye, neither desire his deintie meates.
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 though he thought it in his heart, so will hee say vnto thee, Eate and drinke: but his heart is not with thee.
8 You'll vomit up the little pieces you've eaten, and your kind words of appreciation will be wasted.
Thou shalt vomit thy morsels that thou hast eaten, and thou shalt lose thy sweete wordes.
9 Don't talk to stupid people because they'll ridicule your wise words.
Speake not in the eares of a foole: for hee will despise the wisdome of thy wordes.
10 Don't move ancient boundary markers, and don't encroach on fields belonging to orphans,
Remooue not the ancient boundes, and enter not into the fieldes of the fatherlesse.
11 for their Protector is powerful and he will plead their case against you.
For he that redeemeth them, is mightie: he will defend their cause against thee.
12 Focus your mind on instruction; listen intently to words of knowledge.
Apply thine heart to instruction, and thine eares to the wordes of knowledge.
13 Don't keep from disciplining your children—a beating won't kill them.
Withhold not correction from the childe: if thou smite him with the rodde, he shall not die.
Thou shalt smite him with the rodde, and shalt deliuer his soule from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if you think wisely then I'll be happy;
My sonne, if thine heart be wise, mine heart shall reioyce, and I also.
16 I'll be delighted when you say what's right.
And my reynes shall reioyce, when thy lips speake righteous things.
17 Don't think enviously of sinners, but always remember to honor the Lord,
Let not thine heart bee enuious against sinners: but let it bee in the feare of the Lord continually.
18 for there's definitely a future for you, and your hope will not be crushed.
For surely there is an ende, and thy hope shall not be cut off.
19 Pay attention, my son, and be wise; make sure your mind concentrates on following the right way.
O thou my sonne, heare, and bee wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Don't join in with people who drink too much wine or who stuff themselves with meat.
Keepe not company with drunkards, nor with gluttons.
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 the drunkard and the glutton shall bee poore, and the sleeper shalbe clothed with ragges.
22 Pay attention to your father, and don't disregard your mother when she's old.
Obey thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother when she is olde.
23 Invest in truth—and don't sell it! Invest in wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Bye the trueth, but sell it not: likewise wisdome, and instruction, and vnderstanding.
24 Children who do right make their fathers very happy; a wise son brings joy to his father.
The father of the righteous shall greatly reioyce, and hee that begetteth a wise childe, shall haue ioy of him.
25 Make your father and mother happy; bring joy to her who gave birth to you.
Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall reioyce.
26 My son, give me your undivided attention, and cheerfully follow my example.
My sonne, giue mee thine heart, and let thine eyes delite in my wayes.
27 A prostitute is like being trapped in a pit; an immoral woman is like getting stuck a narrow well,
For a whore is as a deepe ditche, and a strange woman is as a narrowe pitte.
28 Like a robber, she lies in wait ready to ambush men and make more of them unfaithful to their wives.
Also she lyeth in wait as for a praye, and she increaseth the transgressers 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?
To whome is woe? to whome is sorowe? to whom is strife? to whom is murmuring? to whom are woundes without cause? and to whome is the rednesse of the eyes?
30 —those who spend a long time drinking wine, those who are always trying some new cocktail.
Euen to them that tarie long at the wine, to them that goe, and seeke mixt 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.
Looke not thou vpon the wine, when it is red, and when it sheweth his colour in the cup, or goeth downe pleasantly.
32 In the end it bites like a serpent, it stings like a snake.
In the ende thereof it will bite like a serpent, and hurt like a cockatrise.
33 You'll hallucinate, seeing strange things, and your confused mind will make you say all kinds of craziness.
Thine eyes shall looke vpon strange women, and thine heart shall speake lewde 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,
And thou shalt bee as one that sleepeth in the middes of the sea, and as hee that sleepeth in the toppe of the maste.
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 haue stricken mee, shalt thou say, but I was not sicke: they haue beaten mee, but I knew not, when I awoke: therefore will I seeke it yet still.
