| New King James Version | NET Bible |
| 1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you; | 1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you, |
| 2And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite. | 2and put a knife to your throat if you possess a large appetite. |
| 3Do not desire his delicacies, For they are deceptive food. | 3Do not crave that ruler's delicacies, for that food is deceptive. |
| 4Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease! | 4Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. |
| 5Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven. | 5When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! |
| 6Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies; | 6Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies; |
| 7For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you. | 7for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you; |
| 8The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words. | 8you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted your pleasant words. |
| 9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words. | 9Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. |
| 10Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless; | 10Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless, |
| 11For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you. | 11for their Protector is strong; he will plead their case against you. |
| 12Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge. | 12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge. |
| 13Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die. | 13Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die. |
| 14You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell. | 14If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death. |
| 15My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself; | 15My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad; |
| 16Yes, my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak right things. | 16my soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. |
| 17Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day; | 17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the LORD all the time. |
| 18For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off. | 18For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. |
| 19Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way. | 19Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right way. |
| 20Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat; | 20Do not spend time among drunkards, among those who eat too much meat, |
| 21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. | 21because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished, and drowsiness clothes them with rags. |
| 22Listen to your father who begot you, And do not 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 the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding. | 23Acquire truth and do not sell it--wisdom, and discipline, and understanding. |
| 24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him. | 24The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him. |
| 25Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice. | 25May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice. |
| 26My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways. | 26Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways; |
| 27For a harlot is a deep pit, And a seductress is a narrow well. | 27for a prostitute is like a deep pit; a harlot is like a narrow well. |
| 28She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men. | 28Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men. |
| 29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? | 29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the eyes? |
| 30Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine. | 30Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine. |
| 31Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly; | 31Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. |
| 32At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper. | 32Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper. |
| 33Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things. | 33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will speak perverse things. |
| 34Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying: | 34And you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging. |
| 35“They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?” | 35You will say, "They have struck me, but I am not harmed! They beat me, but I did not know it! When will I awake? I will look for another drink." |
|
