Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eate with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee,
When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 And put the knife to thy throte, if thou be a man giuen to the appetite.
And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Be not desirous of his deintie meates: for it is a deceiuable meate.
Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Trauaile not too much to be rich: but cease from thy wisdome.
Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
5 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.
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.
6 Eate thou not the bread of him that hath an euil eye, neither desire his deintie meates.
Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
7 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.
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.
8 Thou shalt vomit thy morsels that thou hast eaten, and thou shalt lose thy sweete wordes.
The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 Speake not in the eares of a foole: for hee will despise the wisdome of thy wordes.
Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
10 Remooue not the ancient boundes, and enter not into the fieldes of the fatherlesse.
Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
11 For he that redeemeth them, is mightie: he will defend their cause against thee.
For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Apply thine heart to instruction, and thine eares to the wordes of knowledge.
Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the childe: if thou smite him with the rodde, he shall not die.
Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My sonne, if thine heart be wise, mine heart shall reioyce, and I also.
My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 And my reynes shall reioyce, when thy lips speake righteous things.
And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Let not thine heart bee enuious against sinners: but let it bee in the feare of the Lord continually.
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
18 For surely there is an ende, and thy hope shall not be cut off.
Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 O thou my sonne, heare, and bee wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
20 Keepe not company with drunkards, nor with gluttons.
Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall bee poore, and the sleeper shalbe clothed with ragges.
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Obey thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother when she is olde.
Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Bye the trueth, but sell it not: likewise wisdome, and instruction, and vnderstanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly reioyce, and hee that begetteth a wise childe, shall haue ioy of him.
The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall reioyce.
Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 My sonne, giue mee thine heart, and let thine eyes delite in my wayes.
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 For a whore is as a deepe ditche, and a strange woman is as a narrowe pitte.
For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Also she lyeth in wait as for a praye, and she increaseth the transgressers among men.
She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
29 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?
Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 Euen to them that tarie long at the wine, to them that goe, and seeke mixt wine.
Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
31 Looke not thou vpon the wine, when it is red, and when it sheweth his colour in the cup, or goeth downe pleasantly.
Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
32 In the ende thereof it will bite like a serpent, and hurt like a cockatrise.
But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
33 Thine eyes shall looke vpon strange women, and thine heart shall speake lewde things.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 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.
And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
35 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.
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?
