Proverbs 23

1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who is before thee;

1When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;

1When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face:

2and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

2And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.

2And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.

3Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.

3Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.

3Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.

4Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:

4Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money.

4Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.

5wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.

5Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.

5Lift 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.

6Eat thou not the food of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties.

6Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:

6Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:

7For as he thinketh in his soul, so is he. Eat and drink! will he say unto thee; but his heart is not with thee.

7For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.

7Because, 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.

8Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted thy sweet words.

8The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.

8The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.

9Speak not in the ears of a foolish [man], for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

9Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.

9Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.

10Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

10Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;

10Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:

11for their redeemer is mighty; he will plead their cause against thee.

11For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.

11For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.

12Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

12Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

12Let thy heart apply itself to instruction and thy ears to words of knowledge.

13Withhold not correction from the child; for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die:

13Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.

13Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.

14thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.

14Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld.

14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.

15My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine;

15My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;

15My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:

16and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.

16And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.

16And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.

17Let not thy heart envy sinners, but [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day;

17Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;

17Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:

18for surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

18For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

18Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.

19Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.

19Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way.

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.

20Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh.

20Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:

20Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:

21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags.

21For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed.

21Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together, shall be consumed: and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.

22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

22Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.

22Hearken to thy father, that begot thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23Buy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.

23Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.

23Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24The father of a righteous [man] shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise [son] shall have joy of him:

24The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.

24The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.

25let thy father and thy mother have joy, and let her that bore thee rejoice.

25Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.

25Let thy father and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.

26My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.

26My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.

27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

27For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.

27For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.

28Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.

28She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.

29Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes?

29Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?

29Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

30— They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.

30Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.

30Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups.

31Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly:

31Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:

31Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,

32at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

32In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.

32But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.

33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;

33Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.

33Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.

34and thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down upon the top of a mast:

34Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.

34And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep when the stern is lost.

35— “They have smitten me, [and] I am not sore; they have beaten me, [and] I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.”

35They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.

35And 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?