Proverbs 23

1  When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully whatt is before you,
2  and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3  Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4  Do not toil to acquire wealth;
be discerning enough to desist.
5  When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6  Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;t
do not desire his delicacies,
7  for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.t
"Eat and drink!" he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
8  You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
9  Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10  Do not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11  for their Redeemer is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.
12  Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13  Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14  If you strike him with the rod,
you will save his soul from Sheol.
15  My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16  My inmost beingt will exult
when your lips speak what is right.
17  Let not your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day.
18  Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.

19  Hear, my son, and be wise,
and direct your heart in the way.
20  Be not among drunkardst
or among gluttonous eaters of meat,
21  for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and slumber will clothe them with rags.

22  Listen to your father who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23  Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24  The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25  Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.

26  My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observet my ways.
27  For a prostitute is a deep pit;
an adulteresst is a narrow well.
28  She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind.

29  Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30  Those who tarry long over wine;
those who go to try mixed wine.
31  Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32  In the end it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33  Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter perverse things.
34  You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.t
35  "They struck me," you will say,t "but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I must have another drink."

Proverbs 23

1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that is before thee;

2 And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite.

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

4 Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom.

5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties:

7 For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.

8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words.

9 Speak not in the hearing of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

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

11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against thee.

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

13 Withhold not correction from the child; For if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.

15 My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine:

16 Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things.

17 Let not thy heart envy sinners; But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:

18 For surely there is a reward; And thy hope shall not be cut off.

19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thy heart in the way.

20 Be not among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:

21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

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

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

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.

25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice.

26 My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways.

27 For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.

28 Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men.

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

30 They that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek out mixed wine.

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

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things, And thy heart shall utter perverse things.

34 Yea, 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.

35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt; They have beaten me, and I felt it not: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.