23When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
2and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
3Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.
5When your eyes light upon it, it is gone;
for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
do not desire their delicacies;
7for like a hair in the throat, so are they.
“Eat and drink!” they say to you;
but they do not mean it.
8You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.
10Do not remove an ancient landmark
or encroach on the fields of orphans,
11for their redeemer is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.
12Apply your mind to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13Do not withhold discipline from your children;
if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.
14If you beat them with the rod,
you will save their lives from Sheol.
15My child, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16My soul will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but always continue in the fear of the Lord.
18Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
19Hear, my child, and be wise,
and direct your mind in the way.
20Do not be among winebibbers,
or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.
22Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
25Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.
26My child, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
27For a prostitute is a deep pit;
an adulteress is a narrow well.
28She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the number of the faithless.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30Those who linger late over wine,
those who keep trying mixed wines.
31Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32At the last it bites like a serpent,
and stings like an adder.
33Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind utter perverse things.
34You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
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.”
24Do not envy the wicked,
nor desire to be with them;
2for their minds devise violence,
and their lips talk of mischief.
3By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
4by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
5Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones,
and those who have knowledge than those who have strength;
6for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
7Wisdom is too high for fools;
in the gate they do not open their mouths.
8Whoever plans to do evil
will be called a mischief-maker.
9The devising of folly is sin,
and the scoffer is an abomination to all.
10If you faint in the day of adversity,
your strength being small;
11if you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death,
those who go staggering to the slaughter;
12if you say, “Look, we did not know this”—
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it?
And will he not repay all according to their deeds?
13My child, eat honey, for it is good,
and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
14Know that wisdom is such to your soul;
if you find it, you will find a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
15Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against the home of the righteous;
do no violence to the place where the righteous live;
16for though they fall seven times, they will rise again;
but the wicked are overthrown by calamity.
17Do not rejoice when your enemies fall,
and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble,
18or else the Lord will see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from them.
19Do not fret because of evildoers.
Do not envy the wicked;
20for the evil have no future;
the lamp of the wicked will go out.
21My child, fear the Lord and the king,
and do not disobey either of them;
22for disaster comes from them suddenly,
and who knows the ruin that both can bring?
23These also are sayings of the wise:
Partiality in judging is not good.
24Whoever says to the wicked, “You are innocent,”
will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations;
25but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
and a good blessing will come upon them.
26One who gives an honest answer
gives a kiss on the lips.
27Prepare your work outside,
get everything ready for you in the field;
and after that build your house.
28Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
29Do not say, “I will do to others as they have done to me;
I will pay them back for what they have done.”
30I passed by the field of one who was lazy,
by the vineyard of a stupid person;
31and see, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
32Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
33A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
34and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.
25These are other proverbs of Solomon that the officials of King Hezekiah of Judah copied.
2It is the glory of God to conceal things,
but the glory of kings is to search things out.
3Like the heavens for height, like the earth for depth,
so the mind of kings is unsearchable.
4Take away the dross from the silver,
and the smith has material for a vessel;
5take away the wicked from the presence of the king,
and his throne will be established in righteousness.
6Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence
or stand in the place of the great;
7for it is better to be told, “Come up here,”
than to be put lower in the presence of a noble. What your eyes have seen
8do not hastily bring into court;
for what will you do in the end,
when your neighbor puts you to shame?
9Argue your case with your neighbor directly,
and do not disclose another’s secret;
10or else someone who hears you will bring shame upon you,
and your ill repute will have no end.
11A word fitly spoken
is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.
12Like a gold ring or an ornament of gold
is a wise rebuke to a listening ear.
13Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
are faithful messengers to those who send them;
they refresh the spirit of their masters.
14Like clouds and wind without rain
is one who boasts of a gift never given.
15With patience a ruler may be persuaded,
and a soft tongue can break bones.
16If you have found honey, eat only enough for you,
or else, having too much, you will vomit it.
17Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house,
otherwise the neighbor will become weary of you and hate you.
18Like a war club, a sword, or a sharp arrow
is one who bears false witness against a neighbor.
19Like a bad tooth or a lame foot
is trust in a faithless person in time of trouble.
20Like vinegar on a wound
is one who sings songs to a heavy heart.
Like a moth in clothing or a worm in wood,
sorrow gnaws at the human heart.
21If your enemies are hungry, give them bread to eat;
and if they are thirsty, give them water to drink;
22for you will heap coals of fire on their heads,
and the Lord will reward you.
23The north wind produces rain,
and a backbiting tongue, angry looks.
24It is better to live in a corner of the housetop
than in a house shared with a contentious wife.
25Like cold water to a thirsty soul,
so is good news from a far country.
26Like a muddied spring or a polluted fountain
are the righteous who give way before the wicked.
27It is not good to eat much honey,
or to seek honor on top of honor.
28Like a city breached, without walls,
is one who lacks self-control.
26Like snow in summer or rain in harvest,
so honor is not fitting for a fool.
2Like a sparrow in its flitting, like a swallow in its flying,
an undeserved curse goes nowhere.
3A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
and a rod for the back of fools.
4Do not answer fools according to their folly,
or you will be a fool yourself.
5Answer fools according to their folly,
or they will be wise in their own eyes.
6It is like cutting off one’s foot and drinking down violence,
to send a message by a fool.
7The legs of a disabled person hang limp;
so does a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
8It is like binding a stone in a sling
to give honor to a fool.
9Like a thornbush brandished by the hand of a drunkard
is a proverb in the mouth of a fool.
10Like an archer who wounds everybody
is one who hires a passing fool or drunkard.
11Like a dog that returns to its vomit
is a fool who reverts to his folly.
12Do you see persons wise in their own eyes?
There is more hope for fools than for them.
13The lazy person says, “There is a lion in the road!
There is a lion in the streets!”
14As a door turns on its hinges,
so does a lazy person in bed.
15The lazy person buries a hand in the dish,
and is too tired to bring it back to the mouth.
16The lazy person is wiser in self-esteem
than seven who can answer discreetly.
17Like somebody who takes a passing dog by the ears
is one who meddles in the quarrel of another.
18Like a maniac who shoots deadly firebrands and arrows,
19so is one who deceives a neighbor
and says, “I am only joking!”
20For lack of wood the fire goes out,
and where there is no whisperer, quarreling ceases.
21As charcoal is to hot embers and wood to fire,
so is a quarrelsome person for kindling strife.
22The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels;
they go down into the inner parts of the body.
23Like the glaze covering an earthen vessel
are smooth lips with an evil heart.
24An enemy dissembles in speaking
while harboring deceit within;
25when an enemy speaks graciously, do not believe it,
for there are seven abominations concealed within;
26though hatred is covered with guile,
the enemy’s wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.
27Whoever digs a pit will fall into it,
and a stone will come back on the one who starts it rolling.
28A lying tongue hates its victims,
and a flattering mouth works ruin.