New King James Version

King James Bible

1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully 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 a man given to appetite.

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

3Do not desire his delicacies, For they are deceptive food.

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

4Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!

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

5Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

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 bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;

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

7For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “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.

8The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words.

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

9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

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

10Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;

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

11For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause 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 correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

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

14You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.

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

15My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;

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

16Yes, my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak right things.

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

17Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;

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

18For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.

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

19Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way.

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

20Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

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

21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

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

22Listen to your father who begot you, 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, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

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

24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.

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

25Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice.

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 observe my ways.

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

27For a harlot is a deep pit, And a seductress is a narrow well.

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

28She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases 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 contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of 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 long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.

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

31Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly;

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

32At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper.

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

33Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.

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

34Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:

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 have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek 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.

The Holy Bible, New King James Version, Copyright © 1982 Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved.

King James Bible, text courtesy of BibleProtector.com.