Proverbs 23

KING JAMES BIBLE	NEW AMERICAN BIBLE
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:	1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, keep in mind who is before you;
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.	2 And put a knife to your throat if you have a ravenous appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.	3 Do not desire his delicacies; they are deceitful food.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.	4 Toil not to gain wealth, cease to be concerned about it;
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.	5 While your glance flits to it, it is gone! for assuredly it grows wings, like the eagle that flies toward heaven.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:	6 Do not take food with a grudging man, and do not desire his dainties;
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.	7 For in his greed he is like a storm. "Eat and drink," he says to you, though his heart is not with you;
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.	8 The little you have eaten you will vomit up, and you will have wasted your agreeable words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.	9 Speak not for the fool's hearing; he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:	10 Remove not the ancient landmark, nor invade the fields of orphans;
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.	11 For their redeemer is strong; he will defend their cause against you.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.	12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.	13 Withhold not chastisement from a boy; if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.	14 Beat him with the rod, and you will save him from the nether world.
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.	15 My son, if your heart be wise, my own heart also will rejoice;
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.	16 And my inmost being will exult, when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.	17 Let not your heart emulate sinners, but be zealous for the fear of the LORD always;
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.	18 For you will surely have a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.	19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the right way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:	20 Consort not with winebibbers, nor with those who eat meat to excess;
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.	21 For the drunkard and the glutton come to poverty, and torpor clothes a man in rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.	22 Listen to your father who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.	23 Get the truth, and sell it not-- wisdom, instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.	24 The father of a just man will exult with glee; he who begets a wise son will have joy in him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.	25 Let your father and mother have joy; let her who bore you exult.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.	26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.	27 For the harlot is a deep ditch, and the adulteress a narrow pit;
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.	28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the faithless among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?	29 Who scream? Who shriek? Who have strife? Who have anxiety? Who have wounds for nothing? Who have black eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.	30 Those who linger long over wine, those who engage in trials of blended wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.	31 Look not on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the glass. It goes down smoothly;
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.	32 but in the end it bites like a serpent, or like a poisonous adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.	33 Your eyes behold strange sights, and your heart utters disordered thoughts;
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.	34 You are like one now lying in the depths of the sea, now sprawled at the top of the mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.	35 "They struck me, but it pained me not; They beat me, but I felt it not; When shall I awake to seek wine once again?"