Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well him that is before thee;
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties; seeing they are deceitful food.
Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Weary not thyself to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom.
Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone; for riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties;
Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
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 as he hath thought in his soul, so [is] he, 'Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart [is] not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless;
Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause with thee.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child; for though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart will be glad, even mine;
My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
16 Yea, my reins will rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the LORD all the day;
Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But — in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
18 For surely there is a future; and thy hope shall not be cut off.
For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,
20 Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh;
Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and 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 righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
26 My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch; and an alien woman is a narrow pit.
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the faithless among men.
She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
29 Who crieth: 'Woe'? who: 'Alas'? who hath contentions? who hath raving? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.
Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it glideth down smoothly;
See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like a basilisk.
Its latter end — as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter confused things.
Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
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 thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
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.'
'They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake — I seek it yet again!'
