English Standard Version

New Living Translation

1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,

1While dining with a ruler, pay attention to what is put before you.

2and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

2If you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat;

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

3don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you.

4Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.

4Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit.

5When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

5In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.

6Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,

6Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies.

7for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

7They are always thinking about how much it costs. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.

8You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

8You will throw up what little you’ve eaten, and your compliments will be wasted.

9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

9Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice.

10Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,

10Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers; don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.

11for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

11For their Redeemer is strong; he himself will bring their charges against you.

12Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

12Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge.

13Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

13Don’t fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won’t kill them.

14If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

14Physical discipline may well save them from death.

15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

15My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice!

16My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.

16Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right.

17Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day.

17Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD.

18Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

18You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed.

19Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.

19My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course.

20Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,

20Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,

21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.

21for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags.

22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

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

23Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

23Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.

24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

24The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise.

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

25So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.

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

26O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.

27For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.

27A prostitute is a dangerous trap; a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.

28She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

28She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful.

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

29Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

30Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine.

30It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.

31Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

31Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.

32In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

32For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.

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

33You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things.

34You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.

34You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast.

35“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

35And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?”

ESV Text Edition: 2016. The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®) copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. The ESV® text has been reproduced in cooperation with and by permission of Good News Publishers. Unauthorized reproduction of this publication is prohibited. All rights reserved.

Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.