Proverbs 23

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, think carefully about what is in front of you.

2And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

2If you love food too much, hold yourself back. Act as if a knife were at your throat.

3Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

3Do not long for his fancy food. That food is meant to fool you.

4Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

4Do not wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to stop.

5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

5Why stare at money? It is gone in a blink. It grows wings and flies off like an eagle into the sky.

6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

6Do not eat the food of a stingy man. Do not long for his fancy food.

7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

7Inside, he is counting every bite it costs him. He says, "Eat and drink," but he does not mean it.

8The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

8You will throw up the little you ate. Your kind words to him will be wasted.

9Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

9Do not bother talking to a fool. He will only laugh at your wise words.

10Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

10Do not move an old stone that marks where a field ends. Do not take the fields of children whose father has died.

NoteA "landmark" here is a stone set in the ground to show where one person's field ends and the next one starts. Moving it was a way of stealing land.

11For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

11The one who defends them is strong. He will take their side against you.

12Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

12Turn your heart toward teaching. Turn your ears toward words that make you wise.

13Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

13Do not hold back correction from a child. If you strike him with a stick, it will not kill him.

14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

14Strike him with the stick. You will save his life from the place of the dead.

Note"Hell" in the King James Bible here is the Hebrew word Sheol, which means the place of the dead, the grave.

15My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

15My son, if your heart is wise, then my own heart will be glad.

16Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

16Deep inside I will be happy when your lips say what is right.

Note"Reins" is an old word for the kidneys. People once used it to mean the deepest part of a person, the way we say "heart." It has nothing to do with the reins on a horse.

17Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

17Do not let your heart wish you could be like people who do wrong. Instead, hold the LORD in deep respect all day long.

18For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

18There is surely a future for you. Your hope will not be cut off.

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

19Listen, my son, and be wise. Steer your heart down the right road.

20Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

20Do not join people who drink too much wine. Do not join those who stuff themselves with meat.

21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

21People who drink too much and eat too much end up poor. Sleeping all the time leaves a person in rags.

22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

22Listen to your father, who gave you life. Do not look down on your mother when she is old.

23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

23Buy the truth, and never sell it. Buy wisdom and teaching and understanding too.

24The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

24The father of a good child is very glad. A man with a wise child is happy because of him.

25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

25May your father and mother be glad. May the woman who gave birth to you be full of joy.

26My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

26My son, give me your heart. Let your eyes watch the way I live.

27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

27A woman who sells her body is a deep pit. A woman married to another man is a narrow well.

28She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

28She hides and waits, like a robber waiting for someone to pass. Because of her, many men break their promises.

29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

29Who has trouble? Who is sad? Who fights with people? Who complains? Who has cuts for no reason? Who has red eyes?

30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

30It is the people who sit for hours over wine. It is those who go looking for mixed drinks.

31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

31Do not stare at the wine when it is red. It sparkles in the cup and slides down so easily.

32At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

32But in the end it bites like a snake. It stings like a snake full of poison.

33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

33Your eyes will see strange things. Your mind will say twisted things.

NoteThe King James Bible says "strange women" here, but the Hebrew word means strange or odd things in general, the kind of things a drunk person sees.

34Yea, 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.

34You will feel like someone lying down on a rocking ship far out at sea. You will feel like someone lying on top of a tall pole on that ship.

35They 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.

35You will say, "They hit me, but it did not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When will I wake up? I want another drink."