Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
When you sit to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,
2 And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
and put a knife to your throat if you are a person who likes to eat a lot of food.
3 Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
Do not crave his delicacies, for it is the food of lies.
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 work too hard to gain wealth; be wise enough to know when to stop.
5 For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
Will you let your eyes light upon it? It will be gone, for it will surely take up wings like an eagle and fly off to the sky.
6 Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
Do not eat the food of one with an evil eye— and do not crave his delicacies,
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.
for he is the kind of man who counts the price of the food. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
You will vomit up the little you have eaten and you will have wasted your compliments.
9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of orphans,
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
for their Redeemer is strong and he will plead their case against you.
12 Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
Do not withhold instruction from a child, for if you discipline him, he will not die.
It is you who must beat him with the rod and save his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad;
16 And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of Yahweh all the day.
18 For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
Surely there is a future and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
Hear—you!—my son, and be wise and direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
Do not associate with drunkards, or with gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
for the drunkard and the glutton become poor and slumber will clothe them with rags.
22 Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
Listen to your father who begot you and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
Buy the truth, but do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
The father of the righteous person will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise child will be glad in him.
25 Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
Let your father and your mother be glad and let her who bore you rejoice.
26 Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an immoral woman is a narrow well.
28 She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
She lies in wait like a robber and she increases the number of the treacherous among humanity.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has fights? Who has complaining? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
Those who linger over wine, those who try the mixed wine.
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 at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
32 Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
In the last it bites like a serpent and it stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
Your eyes will see strange things and your heart will utter perverse things.
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 be as one who sleeps on the high seas or lies on the top of a mast.
35 “They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
“They hit me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When will I wake up? I will seek another drink.”
