Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well him that is before thee;
When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties; seeing they are deceitful food.
Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Weary not thyself to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom.
Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone; for riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties;
Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
7 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.
For, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless;
Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause with thee.
For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child; for though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart will be glad, even mine;
My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
16 Yea, my reins will rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the LORD all the day;
Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
18 For surely there is a future; and thy hope shall not be cut off.
For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh;
Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.
The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
26 My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch; and an alien woman is a narrow pit.
For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
28 She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the faithless among men.
She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
29 Who crieth: 'Woe'? who: 'Alas'? who hath contentions? who hath raving? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.
Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it glideth down smoothly;
Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like a basilisk.
but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter confused things.
Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
34 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.
And you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.
35 '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.'
And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”
