23:1 If thou sit to sup at the table of a
prince, consider attentively the things set before thee:
23:2 and apply thine hand, knowing that it behoves thee to prepare such
[meats]: but if thou art very insatiable,
23:3 desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
23:4 If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; but refrain
thyself in thy wisdom.
23:5 If thou shouldest fix thine eye upon him, he will disappear; for wings
like an eagle's are prepared for him, and he returns to the house of his
master.
23:6 Sup not with an envious man, neither desire thou his meats:
23:7 so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do not
bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
23:8 for he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.
23:9 Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at thy
wise words.
23:10 Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of
the fatherless:
23:11 for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their
cause with thee.
23:12 Apply thine heart to instruction, and prepare thine ears for words of
discretion.
23:13 Refrain not from chastening a child; for if thou beat him with the
rod, he shall not die.
23:14 For thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from
death.
23:15 Son, if thy heart be wise, thou shalt also gladden my heart;
23:16 and thy lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord
all the day.
23:18 For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have posterity;
and thine hope shall not be removed.
23:19 Hear, [my] son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of thine
heart.
23:20 Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases
of flesh:
23:21 for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard
shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
23:22 Hearken, [my] son, to thy father which begot thee, and despise not
[thy mother] because she is grown old.
23:23
23:24 A righteous father brings up [his children] well; and his soul
rejoices over a wise son.
23:25 Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, and let her that bore
thee be glad.
23:26 [My] son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
23:27 For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is
narrow.
23:28 For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be
cut off.
23:29 Who [has] woe? who trouble? who [has] quarrels? and who vexations and
disputes? who [has] bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
23:30 Are not those of them that stay long at wine? [are] not [those] of
them that haunt [the places] where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but
converse with just men, and converse [with them] openly.
23:31 For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, thou shalt
afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
23:32 But at last [such a one] stretches himself out as one smitten by a
serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
23:33 Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, then thy mouth shall
speak perverse things.
23:34 And thou shalt lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a
great storm.
23:35 And thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained; and they
mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and
seek those with whom I may go in company? |
23:1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,
consider diligently what is before thee:
23:2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
23:3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
23:4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
23:5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly
make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
23:6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire
thou his dainty meats:
23:7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to
thee; but his heart is not with thee.
23:8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy
sweet words.
23:9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy
words.
23:10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the
fatherless:
23:11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
23:12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of
knowledge.
23:13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with
the rod, he shall not die.
23:14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from
hell.
23:15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
23:16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD
all the day long.
23:18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut
off.
23:19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
23:20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness
shall clothe a man with rags.
23:22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother
when she is old.
23:23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and
understanding.
23:24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that
begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
23:25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall
rejoice.
23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
23:27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
23:28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors
among men.
23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath
babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
23:30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
23:31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour
in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
23:32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
23:33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter
perverse things.
23:34 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.
23:35 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. |