New International Version NIV
American Standard Version ASV
1 When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you,
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When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that is before thee;
2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
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And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
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Be not desirous of his dainties; Seeing they are deceitful food.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.
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Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.
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Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For [riches] certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies;
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Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties:
7 for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost.“Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
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For as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.
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The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words.
9 Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.
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Speak not in the hearing of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
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Remove not the ancient landmark; And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.
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For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against thee.
12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
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Apply thy heart unto instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.
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Withhold not correction from the child; [For] if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Punish them with the rod and save them from death.
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Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed;
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My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine:
16 my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
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Yea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.
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Let not thy heart envy sinners; But [be thou] in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:
18 There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.
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For surely there is a reward; And thy hope shall not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path:
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Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thy heart in the way
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
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Be not among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
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For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe [a man] with rags
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
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Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well.
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Buy the truth, and sell it not; [Yea], wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.
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The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.
25 May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!
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Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,
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My son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways.
27 for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
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For a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
28 Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men.
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Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
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Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
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They that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek out mixed wine.
31 Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
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Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly:
32 In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
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At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
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Thine eyes shall behold strange things, And thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.
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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.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I’m not hurt! They beat me, but I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?”
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They have stricken me, [shalt thou say], and I was not hurt; They have beaten me, and I felt it not: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Scripture quoted by permission. Quotations designated (NIV) are from THE HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®. NIV®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica. All rights reserved worldwide.
The American Standard Version is in the public domain.