Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
If thou sit to sup at the table of a prince, consider attentively the things set before thee:
2 For thou puttest a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man of a craving desire.
and apply thine hand, knowing that it behoves thee to prepare such [meats]: but if thou art very insatiable,
3 Do not long for his savory meats; they are deceitful food.
desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
4 Fatigue thyself not to become rich; because thou hast understanding, forbear.
If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; but refrain thyself in thy wisdom.
5 When thou lettest merely thy eyes fly over it, it is no more: for it will ever make itself wings: like an eagle will it fly toward heaven.
If thou shouldest fix thine eye upon him, he will disappear; for wings like an eagle's are prepared for him, and he returns to the house of his master.
6 Eat not the bread of a man with an evil eye, and do not long for his savory meats;
Sup not with an envious man, neither desire thou his meats:
7 For as though there were a division in his soul, so doth he act: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
8 Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou spit out, and thou hast wasted thy pleasant words.
for he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.
9 Speak not before the ears of a fool; for he will despise the intelligence of thy words.
Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at thy wise words.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark, and into the fields of the fatherless must thou not enter;
Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is strong; he will indeed plead their cause with thee.
for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thy ears to the sayings of knowledge.
Apply thine heart to instruction, and prepare thine ears for words of discretion.
13 Withhold not from a lad correction; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Refrain not from chastening a child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou wilt indeed beat him with the rod; but thou wilt deliver his soul from perdition. (Sheol h7585)
For thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from death. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, If thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
Son, if thy heart be wise, thou shalt also gladden my heart;
16 And my reins shall exult when thy lips speak what is equitable.
and thy lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
17 Let not thy heart be envious against sinners; but [remain] in the fear of the lord all the time.
Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 For surely there is a future, and thy hope will not be cut off.
For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have posterity; and thine hope shall not be removed.
19 Hear thou, my son, and become wise, and guide thy heart on the right way.
Hear, [my] son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of thine heart.
20 Be not among those that drink wine immoderately, among those that over-indulge in eating flesh:
Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth a man in rags.
for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
22 Hearken unto thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother although she be old.
Hearken, [my] son, to thy father which begot thee, and despise not [thy mother] because she is grown old.
23 Buy the truth and sell it not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will be greatly glad, and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy through him.
A righteous father brings up [his children] well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
25 Let [then] thy father and thy mother rejoice, and let her that hath born thee be glad.
Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, and let her that bore thee be glad.
26 Give, my son, thy heart unto me, and let thy eyes watch my ways.
[My] son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow well.
For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
28 She also lieth in wait like a robber, and she increaseth the treacherous among men.
For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be cut off.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath quarrels? who hath complaints? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
Who [has] woe? who trouble? who [has] quarrels? and who vexations and disputes? who [has] bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
30 They that tarry late over the wine: they that come to seek for mixed drink.
Are not those of them that stay long at wine? [are] not [those] of them that haunt [the places] where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse [with them] openly.
31 Do not look on the wine when it looketh red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it glideth down so readily.
For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, thou shalt afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
32 At the last it will bite like a serpent, and like a basilisk will it sting.
But at last [such a one] stretches himself out as one smitten by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
33 Thy eyes will see strange forms, and thy heart will speak perverse things.
Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, then thy mouth shall speak perverse things.
34 And thou wilt be like one that lieth down in the heart of the sea, or as he that lieth on the top of a mast.
And thou shalt lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm.
35 “They smote me, [but] I suffered no pain; they struck me hard, [but] I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will continue to seek it again.”
And thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained; and they mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?
