| NET Bible | New Living Translation |
| 1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider 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 possess a large appetite. | 2If you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat; |
| 3Do not crave that ruler's delicacies, for that food is deceptive. | 3don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you. |
| 4Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. | 4Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit. |
| 5When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle! | 5In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle. |
| 6Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies; | 6Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their delicacies. |
| 7for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind. "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 little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted your pleasant words. | 8You will throw up what little you’ve eaten, and your compliments will be wasted. |
| 9Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. | 9Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice. |
| 10Do not move an ancient boundary stone, or take over 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 Protector is strong; he will plead their case against you. | 11For their Redeemer is strong; he himself will bring their charges against you. |
| 12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge. | 12Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully to words of knowledge. |
| 13Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the 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 deliver him from death. | 14Physical discipline may well save them from death. |
| 15My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad; | 15My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice! |
| 16my soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. | 16Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right. |
| 17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the LORD all the time. | 17Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD. |
| 18For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. | 18You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed. |
| 19Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right way. | 19My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course. |
| 20Do not spend time among drunkards, among those who eat too much meat, | 20Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons, |
| 21because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished, and drowsiness clothes them with rags. | 21for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags. |
| 22Listen to your father who begot you, 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. |
| 23Acquire truth and do not sell it--wisdom, and discipline, and understanding. | 23Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment. |
| 24The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him. | 24The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise. |
| 25May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice. | 25So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy. |
| 26Give me your heart, my son, 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 like a deep pit; a harlot is like a narrow well. | 27A prostitute is a dangerous trap; a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well. |
| 28Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men. | 28She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful. |
| 29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the 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 linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine. | 30It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks. |
| 31Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it 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. |
| 32Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper. | 32For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper. |
| 33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will speak perverse things. | 33You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things. |
| 34And you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging. | 34You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying mast. |
| 35You will say, "They have struck me, but I am not harmed! They beat me, but I did not know it! When will I awake? I will look for 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?” |
|
