Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, thou shalt consider well, what is before thee;
When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
2 And shalt put a knife to thy throat, if, of great appetite, thou art:
and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
3 Do not crave his dainties, for, the same, are deceitful food.
Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Do not toil to get wealth, of thine own understanding, forbear:
Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
5 Wilt thou let thine eye fly thereupon, when it is nothing? for it will, surely make, itself wings, Like an eagle, will it wing its way across the heavens.
Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.
6 Do not eat the food of him that hath a begrudging eye, neither crave thou his dainties;
Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
7 For, just as he hath thought in his own mind, so, he is: Eat and drink! he may say to thee, but, his heart, is not with thee.
For, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
8 As for thy morsel thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit it, so shalt thou waste thy things so sweet.
The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
9 In the ears of a dullard, do not speak, for he will despise the good sense of thy words.
Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
10 Do not move back the ancient boundary, and, into the fields of the fatherless, do not enter;
Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
11 For, their near of kin, is strong, he, will plead their cause with thee.
For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
12 Bring, to correction, thy heart, and thine ears, to the sayings of knowledge.
Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold, from a child, correction, When thou smitest him with the rod, he shall not die:
Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son! if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
16 So shall my reins exult, when thy lips speak the things that are right.
And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
17 Let not thy heart be envious of sinners, only of the reverence of Yahweh, all day long;
Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
18 For surely there is a future, and, thine expectation, shall not be cut off.
For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
19 Hear, thou, my son, and be wise, and lead forward, in duty, thy heart.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
20 Do not be among them who tipple with wine, —among them who are gluttons;
Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
21 For, the tippler and the glutton, shall come to poverty, and, rags, shall Slumber put on!
For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
22 Hearken to thy father here, who begat thee, and despise not, when she is old, thy mother.
Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
23 Truth, buy thou, but do not sell, wisdom, and correction, and understanding.
Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
24 Greatly shall exult, the father of a righteous man, and, he that begetteth a wise son, shall rejoice in him:
The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
25 Rejoice shall thy father and thy mother, yea she, shall exult, who bare thee.
Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
26 Oh give, my son, thy mind unto me, and let, thine eyes, observe, my ways;
My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 For, a deep chasm, is the unchaste woman, and, a narrow pit, the female unknown;
For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
28 Yea, she, as for prey, lieth in wait, and, the treacherous among mankind, she causeth to abound.
She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
29 Who hath woe? Who hath outcry of pain? Who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? Who hath needless wounds? Who hath dullness of eyes?
Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
30 They who tarry over wine, they who go in to search for mixed wine.
Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
31 Do not look on wine when it becometh red, when it giveth in the cup its sparkle, glideth down smoothly.
Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
32 Its after effect, is that, like a serpent, it biteth, and, like a viper, it doth sting.
but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
33 Thine eyes, will see strange women, and, thy heart, will speak perverse things:
Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
34 So shalt thou become, as one lying down in the heart of the sea, —or as one lying down on the top of the mastgear:
And you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.
35 They smote me—I felt no pain, They struck me down—I noticed it not, —When shall I wake up? I will go on, I will seek it, again!
And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”
