New Revised Standard NRS
The Bible in Basic English BBE
1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,
1
When you take your seat at the feast with a ruler, give thought with care to what is before you;
2 and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite.
2
And put a knife to your throat, if you have a strong desire for food.
3 Do not desire the ruler's delicacies, for they are deceptive food.
3
Have no desire for his delicate food, for it is the bread of deceit.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to desist
4
Take no care to get wealth; let there be an end to your desire for money
5 When your eyes light upon it, it is gone; for suddenly it takes wings to itself, flying like an eagle toward heaven.
5
Are your eyes lifted up to it? it is gone: for wealth takes to itself wings, like an eagle in flight up to heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of the stingy; do not desire their delicacies;
6
Do not take the food of him who has an evil eye, or have any desire for his delicate meat:
7 for like a hair in the throat, so are they. "Eat and drink!" they say to you; but they do not mean it.
7
For as the thoughts of his heart are, so is he: Take food and drink, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten, and you will waste your pleasant words.
8
The food which you have taken will come up again, and your pleasing words will be wasted.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, who will only despise the wisdom of your words.
9
Say nothing in the hearing of a foolish man, for he will put no value on the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not remove an ancient landmark or encroach on the fields of orphans,
10
Do not let the landmark of the widow be moved, and do not go into the fields of those who have no father;
11 for their redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.
11
For their saviour is strong, and he will take up their cause against you.
12 Apply your mind to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.
12
Give your heart to teaching, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from your children; if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.
13
Do not keep back training from the child: for even if you give him blows with the rod, it will not be death to him.
14 If you beat them with the rod, you will save their lives from Sheol
14
Give him blows with the rod, and keep his soul safe from the underworld
15 My child, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.
15
My son, if your heart becomes wise, I, even I, will be glad in heart;
16 My soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
16
And my thoughts in me will be full of joy when your lips say right things.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the Lord.
17
Have no envy of sinners in your heart, but keep in the fear of the Lord all through the day;
18 Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
18
For without doubt there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my child, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way
19
Give ear, my son, and be wise, guiding your heart in the right way
20 Do not be among winebibbers, or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
20
Do not be among those who give themselves to wine-drinking, or among those who make themselves full with meat:
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them with rags
21
For those who take delight in drink and feasting will come to be in need; and through love of sleep a man will be poorly clothed
22 Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
22
Give ear to your father whose child you are, and do not keep honour from your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
23
Get for yourself that which is true, and do not let it go for money; get wisdom and teaching and good sense.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
24
The father of the upright man will be glad, and he who has a wise child will have joy because of him.
25 Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice.
25
Let your father and your mother be glad, let her who gave you birth have joy.
26 My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
26
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes take delight in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.
27
For a loose woman is a deep hollow, and a strange woman is a narrow water-hole.
28 She lies in wait like a robber and increases the number of the faithless.
28
Yes, she is waiting secretly like a beast for its food, and deceit by her is increased among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?
29
Who says, Oh! who says, Ah! who has violent arguments, who has grief, who has wounds without cause, whose eyes are dark?
30 Those who linger late over wine, those who keep trying mixed wines.
30
Those who are seated late over the wine: those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
31
Keep your eyes from looking on the wine when it is red, when its colour is bright in the cup, when it goes smoothly down:
32 At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder.
32
In the end, its bite is like that of a snake, its wound like the wound of a poison-snake.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind utter perverse things.
33
Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say twisted things.
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.
34
Yes, you will be like him who takes his rest on the sea, or on the top of a sail-support.
35 "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."
35
They have overcome me, you will say, and I have no pain; they gave me blows without my feeling them: when will I be awake from my wine? I will go after it again.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
The Bible in Basic English is in the public domain.