Chapter 23

On Life and Conduct

1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

Consider carefully 1what is before you,

2 And put a knife to your throat

If you are a aman of great appetite.

3 Do not adesire his delicacies,

For it is deceptive food.

4 aDo not weary yourself to gain wealth,

bCease from your 1consideration of it.

5 1When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.

For awealth certainly makes itself wings

Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

6 aDo not eat the bread of 1a bselfish man,

Or desire his delicacies;

7 For as he 1thinks within himself, so he is.

He says to you, “Eat and drink!”

But ahis heart is not with you.

8 You will avomit up 1the morsel you have eaten,

And waste your 2compliments.

9 aDo not speak in the 1hearing of a fool,

For he will bdespise the wisdom of your words.

10 Do not move the ancient boundary

Or ago into the fields of the fatherless,

11 For their aRedeemer is strong;

bHe will plead their case against you.

12 Apply your heart to discipline

And your ears to words of knowledge.

13 aDo not hold back discipline from the child,

Although you 1strike him with the rod, he will not die.

14 You shall 1strike him with the rod

And arescue his soul from Sheol.

15 My son, if your heart is awise,

My own heart also will be glad;

16 And my 1inmost being will rejoice

When your lips speak awhat is right.

17 aDo not let your heart envy sinners,

But live in the 1bfear of the Lord 2always.

18 Surely there is a 1afuture,

And your bhope will not be cut off.

19 Listen, my son, and abe wise,

And bdirect your heart in the way.

20 Do not be with aheavy drinkers of wine,

Or with bgluttonous eaters of meat;

21 For the aheavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,

And bdrowsiness will clothe one with rags.

22 aListen to your father who begot you,

And bdo not despise your mother when she is old.

23 aBuy truth, and do not sell it,

Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,

And ahe who sires a wise son will be glad in him.

25 Let your afather and your mother be glad,

And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

26 aGive me your heart, my son,

And let your eyes 1bdelight in my ways.

27 For a harlot is a adeep pit

And an 1badulterous woman is a narrow well.

28 Surely she alurks as a robber,

And increases the 1faithless among men.

29 Who has awoe? Who has sorrow?

Who has contentions? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has redness of eyes?

30 Those who alinger long over wine,

Those who go to 1taste bmixed wine.

31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,

When it 1sparkles in the cup,

When it agoes down smoothly;

32 At the last it abites like a serpent

And stings like a bviper.

33 Your eyes will see strange things

And your 1mind will autter perverse things.

34 And you will be like one who lies down in the 1middle of the sea,

Or like one who lies down on the top of a 2mast.

35 “They astruck me, but I did not become 1ill;

They beat me, but I did not know it.

When shall I awake?

I will bseek 2another drink.”

Chapter 24

Precepts and Warnings

1 Do not be aenvious of evil men,

Nor desire to bbe with them;

2 For their 1minds devise aviolence,

And their lips btalk of trouble.

3 aBy wisdom a house is built,

And by understanding it is established;

4 And by knowledge the rooms are afilled

With all precious and pleasant riches.

5 A awise man is 1strong,

And a man of knowledge 2increases power.

6 For aby wise guidance you will 1wage war,

And bin abundance of counselors there is victory.

7 Wisdom is atoo exalted for a fool,

He does not open his mouth bin the gate.

8 One who aplans to do evil,

Men will call a 1schemer.

9 The adevising of folly is sin,

And the scoffer is an abomination to men.

10 If you aare slack in the day of distress,

Your strength is limited.

11 aDeliver those who are being taken away to death,

And those who are staggering to slaughter, Oh hold them back.

12 If you say, “See, we did not know this,”

Does He not aconsider it bwho weighs the hearts?

And cdoes He not know it who dkeeps your soul?

And will He not 1erender to man according to his work?

13 My son, eat ahoney, for it is good,

Yes, the bhoney from the comb is sweet to your taste;

14 Know that awisdom is thus for your soul;

If you find it, then there will be a 1bfuture,

And your hope will not be cut off.

15 aDo not lie in wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous;

Do not destroy his resting place;

16 For a arighteous man falls seven times, and rises again,

But the bwicked stumble in time of calamity.

17 aDo not rejoice when your enemy falls,

And do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles;

18 Or the Lord will see it and 1be displeased,

And turn His anger away from him.

19 aDo not fret because of evildoers

Or be benvious of the wicked;

20 For athere will be no 1bfuture for the evil man;

The clamp of the wicked will be put out.

21 My son, 1afear the Lord and the king;

Do not associate with those who are given to change,

22 For their acalamity will rise suddenly,

And who knows the ruin that comes from both of them?

23 These also are asayings of the wise.

To 1bshow partiality in judgment is not good.

24 He awho says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”

bPeoples will curse him, nations will abhor him;

25 But ato those who rebuke the wicked will be delight,

And a good blessing will come upon them.

26 He kisses the lips

Who gives 1a right answer.

27 Prepare your work outside

And amake it ready for yourself in the field;

Afterwards, then, build your house.

28 Do not be a awitness against your neighbor without cause,

And bdo not deceive with your lips.

29 aDo not say, “Thus I shall do to him as he has done to me;

I will 1render to the man according to his work.”

30 I passed by the field of the sluggard

And by the vineyard of the man alacking 1sense,

31 And behold, it was completely aovergrown with thistles;

Its surface was covered with 1bnettles,

And its stone cwall was broken down.

32 When I saw, I 1reflected upon it;

I looked, and received instruction.

33 “aA little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest,”

34 Then your poverty will come as 1a robber

And your want like 2an armed man.

Chapter 25

Similitudes, Instructions

1 These also are aproverbs of Solomon which the men of Hezekiah, king of Judah, transcribed.

2 It is the glory of God to aconceal a matter,

But the glory of bkings is to search out a matter.

3 As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,

So the heart of kings is unsearchable.

4 Take away the adross from the silver,

And there comes out a vessel for the bsmith;

5 Take away the awicked before the king,

And his bthrone will be established in righteousness.

6 Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,

And do not stand in the place of great men;

7 For ait is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”

Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,

Whom your eyes have seen.

8 Do not go out ahastily to 1argue your case;

2Otherwise, what will you do in 3the end,

When your neighbor humiliates you?

9 1aArgue your case with your neighbor,

And bdo not reveal the secret of another,

10 Or he who hears it will reproach you,

And the evil report about you will not 1pass away.

11 Like apples of gold in settings of silver

Is a aword spoken in 1right circumstances.

12 Like 1an aearring of gold and an bornament of cfine gold

Is a wise reprover to a dlistening ear.

13 Like the cold of snow in the 1time of harvest

Is a afaithful messenger to those who send him,

For he refreshes the soul of his masters.

14 Like aclouds and bwind without rain

Is a man who boasts 1of his gifts falsely.

15 By 1aforbearance a ruler may be persuaded,

And a soft tongue breaks the bone.

16 Have you afound honey? Eat only 1what you need,

That you not have it in excess and vomit it.

17 Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house,

Or he will become 1weary of you and hate you.

18 Like a club and a asword and a sharp barrow

Is a man who bears cfalse witness against his neighbor.

19 Like a bad tooth and 1an unsteady foot

Is confidence in a afaithless man in time of trouble.

20 Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on 1soda,

Is he who sings songs to 2a troubled heart.

21 aIf 1your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;

And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink;

22 For you will 1heap burning coals on his head,

And athe Lord will reward you.

23 The north wind brings forth rain,

And a 1abackbiting tongue, an angry countenance.

24 It is abetter to live in a corner of the roof

Than 1in a house shared with a contentious woman.

25 Like cold water to a weary soul,

So is agood news from a distant land.

26 Like a atrampled spring and a 1polluted well

Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked.

27 It is not good to eat much honey,

Nor is it glory to asearch out 1one’s own glory.

28 Like a acity that is broken into and without walls

Is a man bwho has no control over his spirit.