Proverbs 23

DOUAI-RHEIMS	CATHOLIC PUBLIC DOMAIN
1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.	1 When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.	2 and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.
3 Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.	3 Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.	4 Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.
5 Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.	5 Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.
6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:	6 Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.
7 Because like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.	7 For, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.
8 The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.	8 The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.
9 Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.	9 Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.
10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:	10 Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.
11 For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.	11 For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.
12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.	12 Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.	13 Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.	14 You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell.
15 My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:	15 My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.
16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.	16 And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:	17 Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.
18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.	18 For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.	19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.
20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:	20 Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.
21 Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.	21 For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.	22 Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.	23 Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.
24 The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.	24 The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.
25 Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.	25 Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.
26 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.	26 My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.	27 For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.
28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.	28 She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.
29 Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?	29 Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?
30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.	30 Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?
31 Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,	31 Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,
32 But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.	32 but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.
33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.	33 Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.
34 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.	34 And you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.
35 And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?	35 And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”