Proverbs 23

1

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Considerest thou diligently that which is before thee,

2

And thou hast put a knife to thy throat If thou art a man of appetite.

3

Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it is lying food. Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,

7

For as he hath thought in his soul, so is he, Eat and drink, saith he to thee, And his heart is not with thee.

8

Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast lost thy sweet words.

13

Withhold not from a lad chastening;¹ thou smitest him with the rod—he dieth not.

14

Thou with the rod smitest him, and his soul from sheol deliver.

17

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

18

For surely there is a reward; And thy hope shall not be cut off. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,

20

Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among squanderous eaters of flesh,

21

For the quaffer and squanderer become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.

22

Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.

23

Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,

24

The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.

25

Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bore thee is joyful.

26

Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.

27

For a harlot is a deep ditch, And a strange woman is a tight pit.

28

She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.

29

Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath strife? who hath complaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?

30

Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.

31

See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth down smoothly.

32

In the end—as a serpent it biteth, And as a viper it stingeth.

33

Thine eyes see strange things, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.

34

And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.

35

They struck me, I have not been hurt, They beat me, I felt it not. When shall I awake? I seek it yet again!