Holman Christian Standard Bible

New American Standard Bible 1995

1When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you,

1When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you,

2and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite;

2And put a knife to your throat If you are a man of great appetite.

3don't desire his choice food, for that food is deceptive.

3Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

4Don't wear yourself out to get rich; stop giving your attention to it.

4Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration of it.

5As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

5When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

6Don't eat a stingy person's bread, and don't desire his choice food,

6Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies;

7for it's like someone calculating inwardly." Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

7For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you.

8You will vomit the little you've eaten and waste your pleasant words.

8You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, And waste your compliments.

9Don't speak to a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words.

9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

10Don't move an ancient boundary marker, and don't encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

10Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

11for their Redeemer is strong, and He will take up their case against you.

11For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.

12Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge.

12Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge.

13Don't withhold discipline from a youth; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

13Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

14Strike him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol.

14You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.

15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will indeed rejoice.

15My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad;

16My innermost being will cheer when your lips say what is right.

16And my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right.

17Don't let your heart envy sinners; instead, always fear the LORD.

17Do not let your heart envy sinners, But live in the fear of the LORD always.

18For then you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.

18Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

19Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your mind on the right course.

19Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way.

20Don't associate with those who drink too much wine or with those who gorge themselves on meat.

20Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

21For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags.

21For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.

22Listen to your father who gave you life, and don't despise your mother when she is old.

22Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

23Buy--and do not sell--truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

23Buy truth, and do not sell it, Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

24The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.

25Let your father and mother have joy, and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

25Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

26Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.

27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and a stranger is a narrow well;

27For a harlot is a deep pit And an adulterous woman is a narrow well.

28indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber and increases those among men who are unfaithful.

28Surely she lurks as a robber, And increases the faithless among men.

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes?

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

30Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine.

30Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.

31Don't gaze at wine because it is red, when it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly.

31Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly;

32In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

32At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.

33Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd things.

33Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things.

34You'll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship's mast."

34And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

35They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn't know it! When will I wake up? I'll look for another drink."

35"They struck me, but I did not become ill; They beat me, but I did not know it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.

New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit //www.lockman.org