Proverbs 23
1 When you sit down to eat a meal with a (government official/king), think carefully about what (OR, who) is in front of you.
When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;
2 [Even] if you (have a big appetite/want to eat a lot of food), restrain yourself.
And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 Do not want to eat [a lot of] his fine food, because he may be trying to trick you.
Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Do not [cause yourself to become very tired by] working very hard to become rich; be wise and stop doing that,
Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money.
5 because as soon as you look [MTY] at [all the money that you have acquired], it will be gone; it will [disappear as if it] suddenly grew wings [SIM] and flew up into the sky like an eagle.
Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.
6 [If] someone who is stingy [invites you to a meal], do not eat [a lot of] his fine food,
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 because he will be thinking about how much [the food cost that you are eating]. He [will] say to you, “Eat and drink all that you want!”, but that is not what he [will] really be thinking.
For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 [When you realize what he is really thinking, it will cause you to want to] vomit what you have eaten; and your kind words [telling him that you are enjoying the meal] will be wasted.
The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 (Do not [waste time by]/It is useless) talking to foolish people; they will [only] despise the wise things that you say.
Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not [steal someone’s property by] removing a boundary marker that has been there for a long time, and do not take for yourself the land that belongs to orphans,
Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;
11 because Yahweh is strong, and he is [like] a relative that has the responsibility to defend them, he will [stand up in court and] argue for them and against you.
For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Pay attention to what [your teachers] teach you, and try to learn from the wise things that they say.
Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not refuse to discipline your children; if you punish/spank them, it will not cause them to die,
Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.
Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son/child, if you [SYN] become wise, I [SYN] will be very happy.
My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 I [SYN] will rejoice when I hear you [SYN] say what is right/wise.
And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Do not envy sinful people; instead, revere Yahweh all of your life.
Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 [If you do that], you will be happy in the future, and [God] will certainly [do for you what you are] confidently expecting him to do.
For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 My son/child, listen carefully to me and become wise, and think about (all that you do/your behavior).
Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way.
20 Do not associate with those who drink a lot of (wine/strong drink) or with those who (are gluttons/eat more than they should),
Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:
21 because drunkards and gluttons will become poor; and if all that you do is eat and sleep, you will [soon] (be wearing rags/not have any money to buy clothes).
For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.
22 Pay attention to what your father tells you, and (do not neglect/take care of) [LIT] your mother when she is old.
Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.
23 Try to know/learn what is wise, and get good instruction and understanding; and do not throw those things away.
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
24 Righteous [children] will cause their parents to be very happy; those whose children are wise are proud of them.
The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.
25 [Do what will] cause your father to be glad and enable your mother [also] to be happy.
Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 My son, heed what I say to you, and allow what I do to be an example for you.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 Prostitutes and immoral women [DOU] are [like] [MET] a deep pit or a well [that you may fall into].
For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 They wait [for you] like robbers [SIM], and they cause many men to (be unfaithful to/have sex with women who are not) their wives.
Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 I will tell you [RHQ] what kind of people are always miserable and sad. I will tell you [RHQ] which people are always causing arguments/quarrels and who are always complaining. I will tell you [RHQ] who are injured in fights and whose eyes are always red/bloodshot.
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 [It is] those who drink a lot of wine, who try drinking other kinds of strong drinks.
Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Do not look with pleasure at red wine that looks nice, and which sparkles when it is [poured out] into cups, and which tastes good as you drink it,
Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:
32 because the next morning [you will feel like] you have been bitten by a poisonous snake [DOU].
In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 You [SYN] will [think that you are] seeing strange/weird things, and you [SYN] will not be able to think clearly or speak clearly.
Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 You will think you are in a ship that is tossing on the sea; you be like [SIM] someone who is trying to sleep when the ship is rolling from one side to the other.
Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.
35 You will say, “[I think that] someone struck me, but he did not hurt me; he hit me, but I did not feel it. When will I (wake up/feel normal again) in order that I can drink some more wine?”
They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
