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 eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee:
2 and cut down if you have a big appetite.
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [art] a man given to appetite.
3 Don't be greedy for his fancy food, for it's offered with deceptive motives.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they [are] deceitful food.
4 Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich—be wise enough not to bother!
Labor not to be rich: cease from thy own wisdom.
5 It disappears in the blink of an eye, suddenly growing wings and flying off into the sky like an eagle.
Wilt thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make to themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle towards heaven.
6 Don't accept meal invitations from miserly people; don't be greedy for their fancy food,
Eat thou not the bread of [him that hath] an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties:
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 he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; 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.
The morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 Don't talk to stupid people because they'll ridicule your wise words.
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Don't move ancient boundary markers, and don't encroach on fields belonging to orphans,
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 for their Protector is powerful and he will plead their case against you.
For their redeemer [is] mighty; he will plead their cause with thee.
12 Focus your mind on instruction; listen intently to words of knowledge.
Apply thy heart to instruction, and thy ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Don't keep from disciplining your children—a beating won't kill them.
Withhold not correction from the child: for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if you think wisely then I'll be happy;
My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 I'll be delighted when you say what's right.
Yes, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Don't think enviously of sinners, but always remember to honor the Lord,
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 for there's definitely a future for you, and your hope will not be crushed.
For surely there is an end; and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Pay attention, my son, and be wise; make sure your mind concentrates on following the right way.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.
20 Don't join in with people who drink too much wine or who stuff themselves with meat.
Be not among wine-bibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
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 come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.
22 Pay attention to your father, and don't disregard your mother when she's old.
Hearken to thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Invest in truth—and don't sell it! Invest in wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
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 rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy 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 bore thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me your undivided attention, and cheerfully follow my example.
My son, give me thy heart, and let thy eyes observe my ways.
27 A prostitute is like being trapped in a pit; an immoral woman is like getting stuck a narrow well,
For a lewd woman [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 Like a robber, she lies in wait ready to ambush men and make more of them unfaithful to their wives.
She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth the transgressors 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 hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 —those who spend a long time drinking wine, those who are always trying some new cocktail.
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek 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.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.
32 In the end it bites like a serpent, it stings like a snake.
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 You'll hallucinate, seeing strange things, and your confused mind will make you say all kinds of craziness.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse 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 be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
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 stricken me, [wilt thou say], [and] I was not sick; they have beaten me, [and] I felt [it] not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
