1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: |
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite. |
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat. |
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. |
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. |
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: |
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. |
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. |
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. |
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: |
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee. |
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. |
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. |
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. |
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. |
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. |
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. |
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. |
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. |
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: |
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. |
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. |
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. |
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. |
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. |
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. |
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. |
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors 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? |
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed 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. |
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. |
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. |
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. |
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. |
23
23:1 Ruler - With a great man.
23:2 Put a knife - Restrain thine appetite, as if a man stood with a knife at thy throat.
23:3 Deceitful - They do not yield thee that satisfaction which thou didst expect from them.
23:4 Thine own wisdom - From worldly wisdom, which persuades men to use all possible means to get riches.
23:5 Set thine eyes - Look upon it with earnestness and desire.Is not - Which has no solid and settled being. Eagle - Swiftly, strongly, and irrecoverably.
23:6 Evil eye - Of the envious or covetous man.
23:7 So is he - You are not to judge of him by his words, but by the constant temper of his mind.
23:8 Vomit up - When thou perceivest his churlish disposition, his meat will be loathsome to thee. Sweet words - Thy pleasant discourse wherewith thou didst design to delight and profit him.
23:9 Of a fool - Cast not away good counsels upon incorrigible sinners.
23:10 Enter not - To possess their lands.
23:11 Redeemer - Heb. their near kinsman, to whom it belongs to avenge their wrongs, and to recover and maintain their rights.
23:13 Shall not die - It is a likely way to prevent his destruction.
23:16 My reins - I shall rejoice with all my soul.
23:18 An end - An expected and happy end for such as fear God.
23:19 Guide - Order the whole course of thine affections and actions.In the way - In God's way.
23:23 Buy - Purchase it upon any terms, spare no pains or cost.Truth - The true and saving knowledge of God's will. Sell it not - Do not forsake it for any worldly advantage.
23:26 Give me - Solomon here speaks in God's name.
23:30 Mixt wine - Either mixed with water, or with other ingredients to make it strong and delicious.
23:31 Red - Which was the colour of the best wines in that country.Aright - When it sparkles, and seems to smile upon a man.
23:34 Lieth down - To sleep. Sea - In a ship in the midst of the sea.
23:35 Sick - I was not sensible of it. Again - At present my condition requires sleep to settle myself, and when I am composed, I purpose to return to my former course.