1898 Young's Literal Translation (YLT)

Proverbs 23

1 From this chapter to the five and twentieth are sundry observations of moral virtues, and their contrary vices.

 23:1 ¶ When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,

 23:2 And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.

 23:3 Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.

 23:4 Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.

 23:5 For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.

 23:6 Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,

 23:7 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.

 23:8 Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.

 23:9 In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.

 23:10 Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,

 23:11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.

 23:12 Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.

 23:13 Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.

 23:14 Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.

 23:15 My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,

 23:16 And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.

 23:17 Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of Jehovah all the day.

 23:18 For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.

 23:19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,

 23:20 Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,

 23:21 For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.

 23:22 Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.

 23:23 Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,

 23:24 The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.

 23:25 Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.

 23:26 Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.

 23:27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit.

 23:28 She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.

 23:29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?

 23:30 Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.

 23:31 See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.

 23:32 Its latter end—as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.

 23:33 Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.

 23:34 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.

 23:35 'They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!'