Noyes - Proverbs - 23

23:1  When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider well what is before thee;

23:2  For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, If thou art a man given to appetite!

23:3  Long not for his dainties. For they are deceitful meat.

23:4  Toil not to become rich; Cease from this, thy wisdom.

23:5  Wilt thou let thine eyes fly toward them? They are gone! For riches truly make to themselves wings; They fly away like the eagle toward heaven.

23:6  Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, And long not for his dainties;

23:7  For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. "Eat and drink!" saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.

23:8  The morsel, which thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit up; And thou wilt have thrown away thy sweet words.

23:9  Speak not in the ears of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

23:10  Remove not the ancient landmark, And enter not into the fields of the fatherless!

23:11  For their avenger is mighty; He will maintain their cause against thee.

23:12  Apply thy heart to instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

23:13  Withhold not correction from a child; If thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

23:14  Beat him thyself with the rod, And thou shalt rescue him from the underworld.

23:15  My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart shall rejoice, even mine;

23:16  Yea, my reins shall exult, When thy lips speak right things.

23:17  Let not thy heart envy sinners, But continue thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long;

23:18  For surely there shall be a reward, And thine expectation shall not be cut off.

23:19  Hear thou, my son, and be wise; And let thy heart go forward in the way!

23:20  Be not thou among winebibbers, And riotous eaters of flesh;

23:21  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

23:22  Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.

23:23  Buy the truth, and sell it not; Buy wisdom and instruction and understanding.

23:24  The father of a righteous man shall greatly rejoice; Yea, he who begetteth a wise child shall have joy in him.

23:25  Let thy father and thy mother have joy; Yea, let her that bore thee rejoice!

23:26  My son, give me thy heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways!

23:27  For a harlot is a deep ditch; Yea, a strange woman is a narrow pit.

23:28  Like a robber she lieth in wait, And increaseth the treacherous among men.

23:29  Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who anxiety? Who wounds without cause? Who dimness of eyes?

23:30  They that tarry long at the wine; They that go in to seek mixed wine.

23:31  Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly.

23:32  At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.

23:33  Thine eyes will look upon strange women, And thy heart will utter perverse things.

23:34  Yea, thou shalt be as one that lieth down in the midst of the sea, And as one that lieth down upon the top of a mast.

23:35  They have stricken me [shalt thou say], —I suffered no pain! They have beaten me,—I felt it not! When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.