Bible-Reading.comProverbs 23
1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which is before thee,
2And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou art a man of appetite.
3Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it is lying food.
4Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
5For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
6Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
7For as he hath thought in his soul, so is he, ‘Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart is not with thee.
8Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that are sweet.
9In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
10Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
11For their Redeemer is strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
12Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
13Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
14Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.
15My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
16And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
17Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But -- in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
18For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.
19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,
20Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.
22Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
23Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
25Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
26Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
27For a harlot is a deep ditch, And a strange woman is a strait pit.
28She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
29Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
32Its latter end -- as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
33Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
34And 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 smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake -- I seek it yet again!'
Proverbs 24
1Be not envious of evil men, And desire not to be with them.
2For destruction doth their heart meditate, And perverseness do their lips speak.
3By wisdom is a house builded, And by understanding it establisheth itself.
4And by knowledge the inner parts are filled, With all precious and pleasant wealth.
5Mighty is the wise in strength, And a man of knowledge is strengthening power,
6For by plans thou makest for thyself war, And deliverance is in a multitude of counsellors.
7Wisdom is high for a fool, In the gate he openeth not his mouth.
8Whoso is devising to do evil, Him they call a master of wicked thoughts.
9The thought of folly is sin, And an abomination to man is a scorner.
10Thou hast shewed thyself weak in a day of adversity, Straitened is thy power,
11If from delivering those taken to death, And those slipping to the slaughter -- thou keepest back.
12When thou sayest, ‘Lo, we knew not this.' Is not the Ponderer of hearts He who understandeth? And the Keeper of thy soul He who knoweth? And He hath rendered to man according to his work.
13Eat my son, honey that is good, And the honeycomb -- sweet to thy palate.
14So is the knowledge of wisdom to thy soul, If thou hast found that there is a posterity And thy hope is not cut off.
15Lay not wait, O wicked one, At the habitation of the righteous. Do not spoil his resting-place.
16For seven times doth the righteous fall and rise, And the wicked stumble in evil.
17In the falling of thine enemy rejoice not, And in his stumbling let not thy heart be joyful,
18Lest Jehovah see, and it be evil in His eyes, And He hath turned from off him His anger.
19Fret not thyself at evil doers, Be not envious at the wicked,
20For there is not a posterity to the evil, The lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
21Fear Jehovah, my son, and the king, With changers mix not up thyself,
22For suddenly doth their calamity rise, And the ruin of them both -- who knoweth!
23These also are for the wise: -- To discern faces in judgment is not good.
24Whoso is saying to the wicked, ‘Thou art righteous,' Peoples execrate him -- nations abhor him.
25And to those reproving it is pleasant, And on them cometh a good blessing.
26Lips he kisseth who is returning straightforward words.
27Prepare in an out-place thy work, And make it ready in the field -- go afterwards, Then thou hast built thy house.
28Be not a witness for nought against thy neighbour, Or thou hast enticed with thy lips.
29Say not, ‘As he did to me, so I do to him, I render to each according to his work.'
30Near the field of a slothful man I passed by, And near the vineyard of a man lacking heart.
31And lo, it hath gone up -- all of it -- thorns! Covered its face have nettles, And its stone wall hath been broken down.
32And I see -- I -- I do set my heart, I have seen -- I have received instruction,
33A little sleep -- a little slumber -- A little folding of the hands to lie down.
34And thy poverty hath come as a traveller, And thy want as an armed man!