New Living Translation NLT
Young's Literal Translation YLT
1 While dining with a ruler, pay attention to what is put before you.
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When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,
2 If you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat;
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And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.
3 don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you.
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Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit.
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Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not
5 In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.
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For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
6 Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies.
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Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
7 They are always thinking about how much it costs. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
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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.
8 You will throw up what little you’ve eaten, and your compliments will be wasted.
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Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.
9 Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice.
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In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
10 Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers; don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.
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Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
11 For their Redeemer is strong; he himself will bring their charges against you.
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For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
12 Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge.
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Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Don’t fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won’t kill them.
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Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
14 Physical discipline may well save them from death.
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Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest
15 My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice!
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My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
16 Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right.
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And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
17 Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD .
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Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But -- in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
18 You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed.
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For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.
19 My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course.
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Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart
20 Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,
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Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21 for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags.
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For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
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Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
23 Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.
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Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24 The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise.
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The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
25 So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.
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Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
26 O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.
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Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
27 A prostitute is a dangerous trap; a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.
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For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit.
28 She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful.
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She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
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Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.
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Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31 Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
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See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
32 For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.
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Its latter end -- as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
33 You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things.
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Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
34 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast.
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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.
35 And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?”
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`They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake -- I seek it yet again!'