< Proverbs 23 >

1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee:
你若與官長坐席, 要留意在你面前的是誰。
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [art] a man given to appetite.
你若是貪食的, 就當拿刀放在喉嚨上。
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they [are] deceitful food.
不可貪戀他的美食, 因為是哄人的食物。
4 Labor not to be rich: cease from thy own wisdom.
不要勞碌求富, 休仗自己的聰明。
5 Wilt thou set thy eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make to themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle towards heaven.
你豈要定睛在虛無的錢財上嗎? 因錢財必長翅膀,如鷹向天飛去。
6 Eat thou not the bread of [him that hath] an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties:
不要吃惡眼人的飯, 也不要貪他的美味;
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart [is] not with thee.
因為他心怎樣思量, 他為人就是怎樣。 他雖對你說,請吃,請喝, 他的心卻與你相背。
8 The morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
你所吃的那點食物必吐出來; 你所說的甘美言語也必落空。
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
你不要說話給愚昧人聽, 因他必藐視你智慧的言語。
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
不可挪移古時的地界, 也不可侵入孤兒的田地;
11 For their redeemer [is] mighty; he will plead their cause with thee.
因他們的救贖主大有能力, 他必向你為他們辨屈。
12 Apply thy heart to instruction, and thy ears to the words of knowledge.
你要留心領受訓誨, 側耳聽從知識的言語。
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
不可不管教孩童; 你用杖打他,他必不至於死。
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. (Sheol h7585)
你要用杖打他, 就可以救他的靈魂免下陰間。 (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
我兒,你心若存智慧, 我的心也甚歡喜。
16 Yes, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
你的嘴若說正直話, 我的心腸也必快樂。
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
你心中不要嫉妒罪人, 只要終日敬畏耶和華;
18 For surely there is an end; and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
因為至終必有善報, 你的指望也不致斷絕。
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.
我兒,你當聽,當存智慧, 好在正道上引導你的心。
20 Be not among wine-bibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
好飲酒的,好吃肉的, 不要與他們來往;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.
因為好酒貪食的,必致貧窮; 好睡覺的,必穿破爛衣服。
22 Hearken to thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
你要聽從生你的父親; 你母親老了,也不可藐視她。
23 Buy the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
你當買真理; 就是智慧、訓誨,和聰明也都不可賣。
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy of him.
義人的父親必大得快樂; 人生智慧的兒子,必因他歡喜。
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall rejoice.
你要使父母歡喜, 使生你的快樂。
26 My son, give me thy heart, and let thy eyes observe my ways.
我兒,要將你的心歸我; 你的眼目也要喜悅我的道路。
27 For a lewd woman [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
妓女是深坑; 外女是窄阱。
28 She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
她埋伏好像強盜; 她使人中多有奸詐的。
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
誰有禍患?誰有憂愁? 誰有爭鬥?誰有哀歎? 誰無故受傷?誰眼目紅赤?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
就是那流連飲酒、 常去尋找調和酒的人。
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its color in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.
酒發紅,在杯中閃爍, 你不可觀看, 雖然下咽舒暢, 終久是咬你如蛇,刺你如毒蛇。
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
你眼必看見異怪的事; 你心必發出乖謬的話。
34 And thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
你必像躺在海中, 或像臥在桅杆上。
35 They have stricken me, [wilt thou 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.
你必說:人打我,我卻未受傷; 人鞭打我,我竟不覺得。 我幾時清醒,我仍去尋酒。

< Proverbs 23 >