Proverbiorum 23
1 quando sederis ut comedas cum principe diligenter adtende quae posita sunt ante faciem tuam
When you sit to eat with a ruler, Diligently consider that which [is] before you,
2 et statue cultrum in gutture tuo si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam
And you have put a knife to your throat, If you [are] a man of appetite.
3 ne desideres de cibis eius in quo est panis mendacii
Have no desire to his delicacies, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 noli laborare ut diteris sed prudentiae tuae pone modum
Do not labor to make wealth, Cease from your own understanding, Do you cause your eyes to fly on it? Then it is not.
5 ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes quas habere non potes quia facient sibi pinnas quasi aquilae et avolabunt in caelum
For wealth makes wings to itself, It flies to the heavens as an eagle.
6 ne comedas cum homine invido et ne desideres cibos eius
Do not eat the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his delicacies,
7 quoniam in similitudinem arioli et coniectoris aestimat quod ignorat comede et bibe dicet tibi et mens eius non est tecum
For as he has thought in his soul, so he [is]. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, And his heart [is] not with you.
8 cibos quos comederas evomes et perdes pulchros sermones tuos
You vomit up your morsel you have eaten, And have marred your words that [are] sweet.
9 in auribus insipientium ne loquaris quia despicient doctrinam eloquii tui
Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he treads on the wisdom of your words.
10 ne adtingas terminos parvulorum et agrum pupillorum ne introeas
Do not remove a border of ancient times, And do not enter into fields of the fatherless,
11 propinquus enim eorum Fortis est et ipse iudicabit contra te causam illorum
For their Redeemer [is] strong, He pleads their cause with you.
12 ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum et aures tuae ad verba scientiae
Bring your heart to instruction, And your ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam si enim percusseris eum virga non morietur
Do not withhold discipline from a youth, When you strike him with a rod he does not die.
You strike him with a rod, And you deliver his soul from Sheol. (Sheol h7585)
15 fili mi si sapiens fuerit animus tuus gaudebit tecum cor meum
My son, if your heart has been wise, My heart rejoices, even mine,
16 et exultabunt renes mei cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua
And my reins exult when your lips speak uprightly.
17 non aemuletur cor tuum peccatores sed in timore Domini esto tota die
Do not let your heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of YHWH all the day.
18 quia habebis spem in novissimo et praestolatio tua non auferetur
For is there a posterity? Then your hope is not cut off.
19 audi fili mi et esto sapiens et dirige in via animum tuum
Hear, my son, and be wise, And make your heart blessed in the way,
20 noli esse in conviviis potatorum nec in comesationibus eorum qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt
Do not become drunk with wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 quia vacantes potibus et dantes symbola consumentur et vestietur pannis dormitatio
For the drunkard and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clothes with rags.
22 audi patrem tuum qui genuit te et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua
Listen to your father, who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she has become old.
23 veritatem eme et noli vendere sapientiam et doctrinam et intellegentiam
Buy truth, and do not sell, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 exultat gaudio pater iusti qui sapientem genuit laetabitur in eo
The father of the righteous rejoices greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoices in him.
25 gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua et exultet quae genuit te
Your father and your mother rejoice, Indeed, she bearing you is joyful.
26 praebe fili mi cor tuum mihi et oculi tui vias meas custodiant
Give, my son, your heart to me, And let your eyes watch my ways.
27 fovea enim profunda est meretrix et puteus angustus aliena
For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
28 insidiatur in via quasi latro et quos incautos viderit interficit
She also, as catching prey, lies in wait, And she increases the treacherous among men.
29 cui vae cuius patri vae cui rixae cui foveae cui sine causa vulnera cui suffusio oculorum
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaint? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
30 nonne his qui morantur in vino et student calicibus epotandis
Those lingering by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit cum splenduerit in vitro color eius ingreditur blande
Do not see wine when it shows itself red, When it gives its color in the cup, It goes up and down through the upright.
32 sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber et sicut regulus venena diffundet
Its latter end—it bites as a serpent, And it stings as a viper.
33 oculi tui videbunt extraneas et cor tuum loquetur perversa
Your eyes see strange women, And your heart speaks perverse things.
34 et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari et quasi sopitus gubernator amisso clavo
And you have been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
35 et dices verberaverunt me sed non dolui traxerunt me et ego non sensi quando evigilabo et rursum vina repperiam
“They struck me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!”
