Proverbs 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,
2 put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.
3 Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
6 Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies,
Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
7 for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
For as he hath thought in his soul, so [is] he, 'Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart [is] not with thee.
8 You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.
9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
10 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
11 for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest. (Sheol h7585)
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But — in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,
20 Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;
Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
23 Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
26 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30 Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.
Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
32 In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
Its latter end — as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
35 “They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I will look for more.”
'They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake — I seek it yet again!'
