Proverbs 23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, thou shalt consider well, what is before thee;
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you:
2 And shalt put a knife to thy throat, if, of great appetite, thou art:
And put a knife to your throat, if you be a man given to appetite.
3 Do not crave his dainties, for, the same, are deceitful food.
Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful food.
4 Do not toil to get wealth, of thine own understanding, forbear:
Labour not to be rich: cease from your own wisdom.
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.
Will you set your eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the food of him that hath a begrudging eye, neither crave thou his dainties;
Eat you not the bread of him that has an evil eye, neither desire you his dainty meats:
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 as he thinks in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, says he to you; but his heart 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 morsel which you have eaten shall you vomit up, and lose your sweet words.
9 In the ears of a dullard, do not speak, for he will despise the good sense of thy words.
Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move back the ancient boundary, and, into the fields of the fatherless, do not enter;
Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For, their near of kin, is strong, he, will plead their cause with thee.
For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with you.
12 Bring, to correction, thy heart, and thine ears, to the sayings of knowledge.
Apply your heart unto instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold, from a child, correction, When thou smitest him with the rod, he shall not die:
Withhold not correction from the child: for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
You shall beat him with the rod, and shall 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 heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 So shall my reins exult, when thy lips speak the things that are right.
Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when your lips speak right things.
17 Let not thy heart be envious of sinners, only of the reverence of Yahweh, all day long;
Let not your heart envy sinners: but be you in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 For surely there is a future, and, thine expectation, shall not be cut off.
For surely there is an end; and your expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear, thou, my son, and be wise, and lead forward, in duty, thy heart.
Hear you, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.
20 Do not be among them who tipple with wine, —among them who are gluttons;
Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For, the tippler and the glutton, shall come to poverty, and, rags, shall Slumber put on!
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken to thy father here, who begat thee, and despise not, when she is old, thy mother.
Hearken unto your father that brings forth you, and despise not your mother when she is old.
23 Truth, buy thou, but do not sell, wisdom, and correction, and understanding.
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and 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 righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that bring forths a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Rejoice shall thy father and thy mother, yea she, shall exult, who bare thee.
Your father and your mother shall be glad, and she that bare you shall rejoice.
26 Oh give, my son, thy mind unto me, and let, thine eyes, observe, my ways;
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For, a deep chasm, is the unchaste woman, and, a narrow pit, the female unknown;
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 Yea, she, as for prey, lieth in wait, and, the treacherous among mankind, she causeth to abound.
She also lies in wait as for a prey, and increases the transgressors among men.
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? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes?
30 They who tarry over wine, they who go in to search for mixed wine.
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Do not look on wine when it becometh red, when it giveth in the cup its sparkle, glideth down smoothly.
Look not you upon the wine when it is red, when it gives his colour in the cup, when it moves itself aright.
32 Its after effect, is that, like a serpent, it biteth, and, like a viper, it doth sting.
At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
33 Thine eyes, will see strange women, and, thy heart, will speak perverse things:
your eyes shall behold strange women, and your heart shall utter perverse things.
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:
Yea, you shall be as he that lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lies upon the top of a mast.
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!
They have stricken me, shall you say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
