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 thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 [Even] if you (have a big appetite/want to eat a lot of food), restrain yourself.
And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Do not want to eat [a lot of] his fine food, because he may be trying to trick you.
Be not desirous of his meats, 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,
Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy 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.
Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.
6 [If] someone who is stingy [invites you to a meal], do not eat [a lot of] his fine food,
Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
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.
Because like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.
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 meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 (Do not [waste time by]/It is useless) talking to foolish people; they will [only] despise the wise things that you say.
Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
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,
Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not 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 near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Pay attention to what [your teachers] teach you, and try to learn from the wise things that they say.
Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not refuse to discipline your children; if you punish/spank them, it will not cause them to die,
Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and 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 thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 I [SYN] will rejoice when I hear you [SYN] say what is right/wise.
And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Do not envy sinful people; instead, revere Yahweh all of your life.
Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the 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.
Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 My son/child, listen carefully to me and become wise, and think about (all that you do/your behavior).
Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in 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),
Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
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).
Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Pay attention to what your father tells you, and (do not neglect/take care of) [LIT] your mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy 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.
Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and 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 rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 [Do what will] cause your father to be glad and enable your mother [also] to be happy.
Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 My son, heed what I say to you, and allow what I do to be an example for you.
My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 Prostitutes and immoral women [DOU] are [like] [MET] a deep pit or a well [that you may fall into].
For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
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 lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
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 hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 [It is] those who drink a lot of wine, who try drinking other kinds of strong drinks.
Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of 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,
Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in 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 will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
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.
Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse 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.
And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
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 thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?
