New Living Translation | NET Bible |
1While dining with a ruler, pay attention to what is put before you. | 1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you, |
2If you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat; | 2and put a knife to your throat if you possess a large appetite. |
3don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you. | 3Do not crave that ruler's delicacies, for that food is deceptive. |
4Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. | 4Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. |
5In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. | 5When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! |
6Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies. | 6Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies; |
7They are always thinking about how much it costs. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it. | 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; |
8You will throw up what little you’ve eaten, and your compliments will be wasted. | 8you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted your pleasant words. |
9Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice. | 9Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. |
10Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers; don’t take the land of defenseless orphans. | 10Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless, |
11For their Redeemer is strong; he himself will bring their charges against you. | 11for their Protector is strong; he will plead their case against you. |
12Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge. | 12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge. |
13Don’t fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won’t kill them. | 13Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die. |
14Physical discipline may well save them from death. | 14If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death. |
15My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! | 15My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad; |
16Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right. | 16my soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. |
17Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD. | 17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the LORD all the time. |
18You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. | 18For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. |
19My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. | 19Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right way. |
20Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons, | 20Do not spend time among drunkards, among those who eat too much meat, |
21for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags. | 21because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished, and drowsiness clothes them 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. |
23Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment. | 23Acquire truth and do not sell it--wisdom, and discipline, and understanding. |
24The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. | 24The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him. |
25So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy. | 25May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice. |
26O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways. | 26Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways; |
27A prostitute is a dangerous trap; a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well. | 27for a prostitute is like a deep pit; a harlot is like a narrow well. |
28She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful. | 28Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men. |
29Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? | 29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the eyes? |
30It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks. | 30Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine. |
31Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down. | 31Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. |
32For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper. | 32Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper. |
33You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. | 33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will speak perverse things. |
34You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. | 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. |
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?” | 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." |
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