Proverbs 23
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1When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what is before you,1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.2And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.3Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.4Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies;6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.8The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.9Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,10Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.11For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.12Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.13Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14Punish them with the rod and save them from death.14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed;15My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.16Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.17Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.18For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path:19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,20Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23Buy the truth and do not sell it-- wisdom, instruction and insight as well.23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.24The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,26My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men.28She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.32At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things.33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.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.
35"They hit me," you will say, "but I'm not hurt! They beat me, but I don't feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?"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.
New International Version (NIV)

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King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.
Proverbs 22
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