Proverbs 23 — TOJB

23Verse 1When thou sittest to dine with a moshel (ruler),
consider diligently what is before thee,
^{Verse 2}And put a sakin (knife) to thy throat,
if thou be a ba'al nefesh (man given to gluttony).
^{Verse 3}Be not desirous of his delicacies,
for they are lechem kezavim (deceitful food).
^{Verse 4}Overwork not to get rich;
cease from thine own binah (understanding).
^{Verse 5}Wilt thou let thine eynayim fly after that which is not?
For such [wealth] certainly sprouts kenafayim (wings);
they fly away as a nesher (eagle) toward Shomayim.
^{Verse 6}Eat thou not the lechem of him that hath a rah ayin (evil eye),⁺
neither desire thou his delicacies;
^{Verse 7}For as he reckoneth in his nefesh, so is he.
Eat and drink! saith he to thee,
but his lev is not with thee.
^{Verse 8}The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
and lose thy pleasant devarim.
^{Verse 9}Speak not in the oznayim of a kesil (fool),
for he will despise the seichel of thy words.
^{Verse 10}Remove not the gevul olam (ancient landmark);
and enter not into the sadot of the yetomim (fatherless ones, orphans),
^{Verse 11}For their Go'el is chazak (strong);
He shall plead their cause against thee.
^{Verse 12}Apply thine lev unto musar,
and thine oznayim to the words of da'as.
^{Verse 13}Withhold not musar (correction) from the na'ar (child),
for if thou spank him with the shevet, he shall not die.
^{Verse 14}Thou shalt spank him with the shevet,
and shalt save his nefesh from Sheol.^{Verse 15}Beni (my son), if thine lev be chacham,
my own lev shall have simchah.
^{Verse 16}Indeed, my inmost being shall rejoice,
when thy sfatayim (lips) speak meisharim (upright things).
^{Verse 17}Let not thine lev envy chatta'im,
but be thou in the Yirat Hashem kol hayom.
^{Verse 18}For surely there is an acharit (latter end, future),
and thine tikvah shall not be cut off.^{Verse 19}Hear thou, beni (my son), and be chacham,
and guide thine lev straight on the derech.
^{Verse 20}Be not among yayin gluttons;
among gluttonous eaters of basar,
^{Verse 21}For the drunkard and the zolel (glutton) shall come to poverty,
and drowsiness shall clothe with rags.^{Verse 22}Pay heed unto avicha that fathered thee,
and despise not immecha when she is old.
^{Verse 23}Buy emes, and sell it not;
also chochmah, and musar, and binah (understanding).
^{Verse 24}Avi tzaddik (the father of a righteous one) shall greatly rejoice,
and he that fathereth a chacham shall have simchah in him.
^{Verse 25}Avicha and immecha shall be glad,
and she that bore thee shall rejoice.^{Verse 26}Beni (my son), give me thine lev,
and let thine eynayim delight in my drakhim.
^{Verse 27}For a zonah is a deep pit,
and a nokhriyah (strange woman, foreign woman, seductress, unfaithful wife) is a narrow well.
^{Verse 28}She also lieth in wait like a road bandit,
and increaseth the bogedim (unfaithful) among adam (mankind).^{Verse 29}Who hath oy (woe)? Who hath sorrow?
Who hath strifes? Who hath complaint?
Who hath needless wounds?
Who hath bloodshot eynayim?
^{Verse 30}They that tarry long at the yayin,
they that turn in to sample mixed wine.
^{Verse 31}Stare not thou into the yayin when it is red,
when it sparkles in the kos (cup),
when it goeth down smoothly.
^{Verse 32}At the acharit (latter end, future) it biteth like a nachash,
and stingeth with venomous poisons like a viper.
^{Verse 33}Thine eynayim shall behold zarot (strange women),
and thine lev shall utter perverse things.
^{Verse 34}Indeed, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the lev yam (heart of the sea),
or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
^{Verse 35}They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;
they have beaten me, and I felt it not.
Mosai (when) shall I awake?
I will seek yet another drink.