King James Bible

Christian Standard Bible

1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

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

2And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

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

3Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

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

4Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

4Don't wear yourself out to get rich; because you know better, stop!

5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

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

6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

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

7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

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

8The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

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

9Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

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

10Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

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

11For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

11for their Redeemer is strong, and he will champion their cause against you.

12Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

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

13Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

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

14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.

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

15My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

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

16Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

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

17Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

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

18For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

18For then you will have a future, and your hope will not be dashed.

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

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

20Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:

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

21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

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

22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

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

23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

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

24The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

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

25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

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

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

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

27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

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

28She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

28indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber and increases the number of unfaithful people.

29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

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

30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

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

31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

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

32At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

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

33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

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

34Yea, 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.

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

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

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.