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 sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
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, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
3 Do not want to eat [a lot of] his fine food, because he may be trying to trick you.
Do not desire his foods, in which 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,
Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
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.
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 [If] someone who is stingy [invites you to a meal], do not eat [a lot of] his fine food,
Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
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, 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 [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 foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
9 (Do not [waste time by]/It is useless) talking to foolish people; they will [only] despise the wise things that you say.
Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
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 touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
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 close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
12 Pay attention to what [your teachers] teach you, and try to learn from the wise things that they say.
Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into 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 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/child, if you [SYN] become wise, I [SYN] will be very happy.
My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
16 I [SYN] will rejoice when I hear you [SYN] say what is right/wise.
And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
17 Do not envy sinful people; instead, revere Yahweh all of your life.
Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
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 you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
19 My son/child, listen carefully to me and become wise, and think about (all that you do/your behavior).
Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the 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 willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
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 waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
22 Pay attention to what your father tells you, and (do not neglect/take care of) [LIT] your mother when she is old.
Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise 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.
Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
24 Righteous [children] will cause their parents to be very happy; those whose children are wise are proud of them.
The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in 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 joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
26 My son, heed what I say to you, and allow what I do to be an example for you.
My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to 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 pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
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.
She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
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 has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
30 [It is] those who drink a lot of wine, who try drinking other kinds of strong drinks.
Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
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,
Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
32 because the next morning [you will feel like] you have been bitten by a poisonous snake [DOU].
but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
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 women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
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.
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 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?”
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?”
