1 W hen you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider who and what are before you;

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which before thee,

2 F or you will put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to desire.

And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou a man of appetite.

3 B e not desirous of his dainties, for it is deceitful food.

Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it lying food.

4 W eary not yourself to be rich; cease from your own wisdom.

Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.

5 W ill you set your eyes upon wealth, when it is gone? For riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.

6 E at not the bread of him who has a hard, grudging, and envious eye, neither desire his dainty foods;

Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,

7 F or as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you.

For as he hath thought in his soul, so he, `Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart not with thee.

8 T he morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, and your complimentary words will be wasted.

Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that sweet.

9 S peak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the Wisdom of your words.

In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.

10 R emove not the ancient landmark and enter not into the fields of the fatherless,

Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,

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

For their Redeemer strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.

12 A pply your mind to instruction and correction and your ears to words of knowledge.

Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.

13 W ithhold not discipline from the child; for if you strike and punish him with the rod, he will not die.

Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.

14 Y ou shall whip him with the rod and deliver his life from Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead).

Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.

15 M y son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be glad, even mine;

My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,

16 Y es, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak right things.

And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.

17 L et not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long.

Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But -- in the fear of Jehovah all the day.

18 F or surely there is a latter end, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.

19 H ear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way.

Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,

20 D o not associate with winebibbers; be not among them nor among gluttonous eaters of meat,

Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,

21 F or the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.

22 H earken to your father, who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old.

Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.

23 B uy the truth and sell it not; not only that, but also get discernment and judgment, instruction and understanding.

Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,

24 T he father of the righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) shall greatly rejoice, and he who becomes the father of a wise child shall have joy in him.

The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.

25 L et your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice.

Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.

26 M y son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe and delight in my ways,

Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.

27 F or a harlot is a deep ditch, and a loose woman is a narrow pit.

For a harlot a deep ditch, And a strange woman a strait pit.

28 S he also lies in wait as a robber or as one waits for prey, and she increases the treacherous among men.

She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.

29 W ho has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness and dimness of eyes?

Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?

30 T hose who tarry long at the wine, those who go to seek and try mixed wine.

Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.

31 D o not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the wineglass, when it goes down smoothly.

See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.

32 A t the last it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

Its latter end -- as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.

33 y our eyes will behold strange things and your mind will utter things turned the wrong way.

Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.

34 Y es, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, and as he who lies upon the top of a mast.

And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.

35 Y ou will say, They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me, but I did not feel it! When shall I awake? I will crave and seek more wine again.

`They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake -- I seek it yet again!'