‏ Proverbs 23

On Life and Conduct


1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully
Or who
what is before you,

2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a bperson of great appetite.

3 Do not cdesire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.


4 dDo not weary yourself to gain wealth;
Lit Refrain from your understanding of it
fStop dwelling on it.

5
Lit Will your eyes fly upon it and it is not?
When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For hwealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.


6 iDo not eat the bread of
Lit an evil eye
a kselfish person;
Or desire his delicacies;

7 For as he
Lit reckons in his soul
thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But mhis heart is not with you.

8 You will nvomit up
Lit your
the morsel you have eaten
And waste your
Lit pleasant words
compliments.


9 qDo not speak
Lit in the ears of a
to be heard by a fool,
For he will sdespise the wisdom of your words.


10 Do not move the ancient boundary
Or tgo into the fields of the fatherless,

11 For their uRedeemer is strong;
vHe will plead their case against you.

12 Apply your heart to discipline,
And your ears to words of knowledge.


13 wDo not withhold discipline from a child;
Though you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

14 You shall strike him with the rod
And xrescue his soul from Sheol.


15 My son, if your heart is ywise,
My own heart also will be glad,

16 And my
Lit kidneys
innermost being will rejoice
When your lips speak aawhat is right.


17 abDo not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in
Or reverence for
the adfear of the Lord
Lit all the day
always.

18 Certainly there is a
Lit latter end
agfuture,
And your ahhope will not be cut off.

19 Listen, my son, and aibe wise,
And ajdirect your heart in the way.

20 Do not be with akheavy drinkers of wine,
Or with algluttonous eaters of meat;

21 For the amheavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And androwsiness will clothe one with rags.


22 aoListen to your father, who fathered you,
And apdo not despise your mother when she is old.

23 aqBuy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom, instruction, and understanding.


24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And arhe who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

25 Let your asfather and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.


26 atGive me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes
Another reading is observe
avdelight in my ways.

27 For a prostitute is a awdeep pit,
And a
Lit foreign
aystrange woman is a narrow well.

28 Certainly she azlurks as a robber,
And increases the treacherous among mankind.


29 Who has bawoe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has red eyes?

30 Those who bblinger long over wine,
Those who go to
Or search out
taste bdmixed wine.

31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
When it
Lit gives its eye
sparkles in the cup,
When it bfgoes down smoothly;

32 In the end it bgbites like a snake
And stings like a bhviper.

33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your
Lit heart
mind will bjsay perverse things.

34 And you will be like one who lies down in the
Lit heart
middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a
Or lookout
mast.

35 “They bmstruck me, but I did not become
I.e., from the effect of wounds
ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When will I awake?
I will boseek
Lit it yet again
another drink.”
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