New King James Version

Christian Standard Bible

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

1When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you,

2And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite.

2and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite;

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

3don't desire his choice food, for that food is deceptive.

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

4Don't wear yourself out to get rich; because you know better, stop!

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

5As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

6Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;

6Don't eat a stingy person's bread, and don't desire his choice food,

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 it's like someone calculating inwardly. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

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

8You will vomit the little you've eaten and waste your pleasant words.

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

9Don't speak to a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words.

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

10Don't move an ancient boundary marker, and don't encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

11For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you.

11for their Redeemer is strong, and he will champion their cause against you.

12Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge.

12Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge.

13Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

13Don't withhold discipline from a youth; if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.

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

14Punish him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol.

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

15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will indeed rejoice.

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

16My innermost being will celebrate when your lips say what is right.

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

17Don't let your heart envy sinners; instead, always fear the LORD.

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

18For then you will have a future, and your hope will not be dashed.

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

19Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your mind on the right course.

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

20Don't associate with those who drink too much wine or with those who gorge themselves on meat.

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

21For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe 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.

23Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

23Buy--and do not sell--truth, wisdom, 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 a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

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

25Let your father and mother have joy, and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

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

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

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

27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and a wayward woman is a narrow well;

28She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.

28indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber and increases the number of unfaithful people.

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes?

30Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.

30Those who linger over wine; those who go looking for mixed wine.

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

31Don't gaze at wine because it is red, because it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly.

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

32In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

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

33Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd 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:

34You'll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship's 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?”

35"They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn't know it! When will I wake up? I'll look for another drink."

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

The Christian Standard Bible. Copyright © 2017 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission.