Proverbs

The Proverbs, chapter 23, New English Translation and King James Version

Chapter 23 New English Translation

   1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you,
   2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a large appetite.
   3 Do not crave that ruler's delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
   4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
   5 When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle!
   6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies;
   7 for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you;
   8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted your pleasant words.
   9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
   10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless,
   11 for their Protector is strong; he will plead their case against you.
   12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge.
   13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
   14 If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death.
   15 My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad;
   16 my soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
   17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the LORD all the time.
   18 For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
   19 Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right way.
   20 Do not spend time among drunkards, among those who eat too much meat,
   21 because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished, and drowsiness clothes them with rags.
   22 Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
   23 Acquire truth and do not sell it - wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.
   24 The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.
   25 May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.
   26 Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways;
   27 for a prostitute is like a deep pit; a harlot is like a narrow well.
   28 Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
   29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the eyes?
   30 Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine. 31 Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
   32 Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.
   33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will speak perverse things.
   34 And you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging.
   35 You will say, "They have struck me, but I am not harmed! They beat me, but I did not know it! When will I awake? I will look for another drink."

King James Version

   1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what 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: for they are deceitful meat.
   4 Labour not 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; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
   6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
   7 For as he thinketh in his heart, 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 ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
   10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
   11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
   12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
   13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
   14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
   15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
   16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
   17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
   18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
   19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
   20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
   21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall 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; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
   24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
   25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
   26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
   27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
   28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
   29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
   30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
   31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
   32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
   33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine 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 sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.