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, consider diligently what is before you;
2 And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
3 Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
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.
Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
5 For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
6 Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t 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 as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “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 morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
Don’t speak in the ears 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,
Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
for their Defender is strong. 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 the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Punish 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 will be glad, even mine.
16 And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
Yes, my heart 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.
Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
18 For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
20 Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;
21 For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in 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 gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25 Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
Let your father and your mother be glad! 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 keep in 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 a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
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 strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out 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.
Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
32 Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing 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.
Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
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, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I will look for more.”
