English Standard Version | New Living Translation |
1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you, | 1While dining with a ruler, pay attention to what is put before you. |
2and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. | 2If you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat; |
3Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. | 3don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you. |
4Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. | 4Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. |
5When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. | 5In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. |
6Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, | 6Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies. |
7for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. | 7They are always thinking about how much it costs. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it. |
8You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words. | 8You will throw up what little you’ve eaten, and your compliments will be wasted. |
9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words. | 9Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice. |
10Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, | 10Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers; don’t take the land of defenseless orphans. |
11for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you. | 11For their Redeemer is strong; he himself will bring their charges against you. |
12Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. | 12Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge. |
13Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. | 13Don’t fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won’t kill them. |
14If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. | 14Physical discipline may well save them from death. |
15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. | 15My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! |
16My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right. | 16Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right. |
17Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. | 17Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD. |
18Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. | 18You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. |
19Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. | 19My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. |
20Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, | 20Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons, |
21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags. | 21for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags. |
22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. | 22Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old. |
23Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. | 23Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment. |
24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. | 24The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. |
25Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. | 25So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy. |
26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. | 26O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways. |
27For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. | 27A prostitute is a dangerous trap; a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well. |
28She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind. | 28She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful. |
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? | 29Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? |
30Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. | 30It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks. |
31Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. | 31Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. |
32In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. | 32For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper. |
33Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. | 33You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy 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. | 34You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying 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 must have another drink.” | 35And 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?” |
ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved. | Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved. |
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