Proverbs 23
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Proverbs 23
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| When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that is before thee; | When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you; |
| And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite. | And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food. |
| Be not desirous of his dainties; Seeing they are deceitful food. | Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit. |
| Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom. | Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money. |
| Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For [riches] certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven. | Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven. |
| Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties: | Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat: |
| For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee. | For 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. |
| The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words. | The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted. |
| Speak not in the hearing of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of thy words. | Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words. |
| Remove not the ancient landmark; And enter not into the fields of the fatherless: | Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father; |
| For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against thee. | For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you. |
| Apply thy heart unto instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge. | Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge. |
| Withhold not correction from the child; [For] if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. | Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him. |
| Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol. | Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld. |
| My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine: | My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart; |
| Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things. | And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things. |
| Let not thy heart envy sinners; But [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day long: | Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day; |
| For surely there is a reward; And thy hope shall not be cut off. | For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. |
| Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thy heart in the way. | Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way. |
| Be not among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh: | Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat: |
| For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe [a man] with rags. | For 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. |
| Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old. | Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old. |
| Buy the truth, and sell it not; [Yea], wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. | Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense. |
| The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him. | The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him. |
| Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice. | Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy. |
| My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways. | My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways. |
| For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit. | For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole. |
| Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men. | Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men. |
| Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? | Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark? |
| They that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek out mixed wine. | Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine. |
| Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly: | Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down: |
| At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder. | In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake. |
| Thine eyes shall behold strange things, And thy heart shall utter perverse things. | Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things. |
| 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. | Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support. |
| 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. | They 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. |
