| New King James Version | Holman 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; stop giving your attention to it. |
| 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 take up their case 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 beat him with a rod, he will not die. |
| 14You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell. | 14Strike 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 cheer 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 never fade. |
| 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 stranger 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 those among men who are unfaithful. |
| 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, when 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?” | 35They 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." |
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