Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
2 For thou puttest a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man of a craving desire.
And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
3 Do not long for his savory meats; they are deceitful food.
Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Fatigue thyself not to become rich; because thou hast understanding, forbear.
Do not labor to make wealth, Cease from your own understanding, Do you cause your eyes to fly on it? Then it is not.
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.
For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
6 Eat not the bread of a man with an evil eye, and do not long for his savory meats;
Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
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.
For as he has thought in his soul, so he [is]. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, And his heart [is] not with you.
8 Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou spit out, and thou hast wasted thy pleasant words.
You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
9 Speak not before the ears of a fool; for he will despise the intelligence of thy words.
Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
10 Remove not the ancient landmark, and into the fields of the fatherless must thou not enter;
Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
11 For their redeemer is strong; he will indeed plead their cause with thee.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thy ears to the sayings of knowledge.
Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Withhold not from a lad correction; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
14 Thou wilt indeed beat him with the rod; but thou wilt deliver his soul from perdition. (Sheol h7585)
You strike him with a rod, And you deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, If thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
16 And my reins shall exult when thy lips speak what is equitable.
And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
17 Let not thy heart be envious against sinners; but [remain] in the fear of the lord all the time.
Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
18 For surely there is a future, and thy hope will not be cut off.
For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and become wise, and guide thy heart on the right way.
Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
20 Be not among those that drink wine immoderately, among those that over-indulge in eating flesh:
Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth a man in rags.
For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother although she be old.
Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
23 Buy the truth and sell it not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell, 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.
The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
25 Let [then] thy father and thy mother rejoice, and let her that hath born thee be glad.
Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
26 Give, my son, thy heart unto me, and let thy eyes watch my ways.
Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow well.
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait like a robber, and she increaseth the treacherous among men.
She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
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 has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry late over the wine: they that come to seek for mixed drink.
Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
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.
Do not see wine when it shows itself red, When it gives its color in the cup, It goes up and down through the upright.
32 At the last it will bite like a serpent, and like a basilisk will it sting.
Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
33 Thy eyes will see strange forms, and thy heart will speak perverse things.
Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks 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 you have been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
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.”
“They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
