Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
When you sit down to eat a meal with a (government official/king), think carefully about what (OR, who) is in front of you.
2 And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
[Even] if you (have a big appetite/want to eat a lot of food), restrain yourself.
3 Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
Do not want to eat [a lot of] his fine food, because he may be trying to trick you.
4 Do not labor to make wealth, Cease from your own understanding, Do you cause your eyes to fly on it? Then it is not.
Do not [cause yourself to become very tired by] working very hard to become rich; be wise and stop doing that,
5 For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
because as soon as you look [MTY] at [all the money that you have acquired], it will be gone; it will [disappear as if it] suddenly grew wings [SIM] and flew up into the sky like an eagle.
6 Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
[If] someone who is stingy [invites you to a meal], do not eat [a lot of] his fine food,
7 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.
because he will be thinking about how much [the food cost that you are eating]. He [will] say to you, “Eat and drink all that you want!”, but that is not what he [will] really be thinking.
8 You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
[When you realize what he is really thinking, it will cause you to want to] vomit what you have eaten; and your kind words [telling him that you are enjoying the meal] will be wasted.
9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
(Do not [waste time by]/It is useless) talking to foolish people; they will [only] despise the wise things that you say.
10 Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
Do not [steal someone’s property by] removing a boundary marker that has been there for a long time, and do not take for yourself the land that belongs to orphans,
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
because Yahweh is strong, and he is [like] a relative that has the responsibility to defend them, he will [stand up in court and] argue for them and against you.
12 Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
Pay attention to what [your teachers] teach you, and try to learn from the wise things that they say.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
Do not refuse to discipline your children; if you punish/spank them, it will not cause them to die,
and it may save them from [going to] the place where dead people are. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
My son/child, if you [SYN] become wise, I [SYN] will be very happy.
16 And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
I [SYN] will rejoice when I hear you [SYN] say what is right/wise.
17 Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
Do not envy sinful people; instead, revere Yahweh all of your life.
18 For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
[If you do that], you will be happy in the future, and [God] will certainly [do for you what you are] confidently expecting him to do.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
My son/child, listen carefully to me and become wise, and think about (all that you do/your behavior).
20 Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
Do not associate with those who drink a lot of (wine/strong drink) or with those who (are gluttons/eat more than they should),
21 For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
because drunkards and gluttons will become poor; and if all that you do is eat and sleep, you will [soon] (be wearing rags/not have any money to buy clothes).
22 Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
Pay attention to what your father tells you, and (do not neglect/take care of) [LIT] your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
Try to know/learn what is wise, and get good instruction and understanding; and do not throw those things away.
24 The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
Righteous [children] will cause their parents to be very happy; those whose children are wise are proud of them.
25 Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
[Do what will] cause your father to be glad and enable your mother [also] to be happy.
26 Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
My son, heed what I say to you, and allow what I do to be an example for you.
27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
Prostitutes and immoral women [DOU] are [like] [MET] a deep pit or a well [that you may fall into].
28 She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
They wait [for you] like robbers [SIM], and they cause many men to (be unfaithful to/have sex with women who are not) their wives.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
I will tell you [RHQ] what kind of people are always miserable and sad. I will tell you [RHQ] which people are always causing arguments/quarrels and who are always complaining. I will tell you [RHQ] who are injured in fights and whose eyes are always red/bloodshot.
30 Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
[It is] those who drink a lot of wine, who try drinking other kinds of strong drinks.
31 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.
Do not look with pleasure at red wine that looks nice, and which sparkles when it is [poured out] into cups, and which tastes good as you drink it,
32 Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
because the next morning [you will feel like] you have been bitten by a poisonous snake [DOU].
33 Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
You [SYN] will [think that you are] seeing strange/weird things, and you [SYN] will not be able to think clearly or speak clearly.
34 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.
You will think you are in a ship that is tossing on the sea; you be like [SIM] someone who is trying to sleep when the ship is rolling from one side to the other.
35 “They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
You will say, “[I think that] someone struck me, but he did not hurt me; he hit me, but I did not feel it. When will I (wake up/feel normal again) in order that I can drink some more wine?”
