Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently him that is before thee;
When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties; seeing they are deceitful meat.
Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Weary not thyself to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom.
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 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties:
Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
7 For as he reckoneth within himself, so is he: 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 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
9 Speak not in the hearing of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom 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 enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
11 For their redeemer is strong; he shall plead their cause against thee.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: [for] if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
You strike him with a rod, And you deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall be glad, even mine:
My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long:
Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
18 For surely there is a reward; and thy hope shall not be cut off.
For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
20 Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh:
Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.
For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is 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; [yea], wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bare thee rejoice.
Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.
Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, and 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 contentions? who hath complaining? 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 long at the wine; they that go to seek out mixed wine.
Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it goeth down smoothly.
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 biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thine heart shall utter froward things.
Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon 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 have stricken me, [shalt thou say], and I was not hurt; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
“They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
