23
1 When thou sittest to dine with a moshel (ruler),
consider diligently what is before thee,
2 And put a sakin (knife) to thy throat,
if thou be a ba'al nefesh (man given to gluttony).
3 Be not desirous of his delicacies,
for they are lechem kezavim (deceitful food).
4 Overwork not to get rich;
cease from thine own binah (understanding).
5 Wilt thou let thine eynayim fly after that which is not?
For such [wealth] certainly sprouts kenafayim (wings);
they fly away as a nesher (eagle) toward Shomayim.
6 Eat thou not the lechem of him that hath a rah ayin (evil eye),*
neither desire thou his delicacies;
7 For as he reckoneth in his nefesh, so is he.
Eat and drink! saith he to thee,
but his lev is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
and lose thy pleasant devarim.
9 Speak not in the oznayim of a kesil (fool),
for he will despise the seichel of thy words.
10 Remove not the gevul olam (ancient landmark);
and enter not into the sadot of the yetomim (fatherless ones, orphans),
11 For their Go'el is chazak (strong);
He shall plead their cause against thee.
12 Apply thine lev unto musar,
and thine oznayim to the words of da'as.
13 Withhold not musar (correction) from the na'ar (child),
for if thou spank him with the shevet, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt spank him with the shevet,
and shalt save his nefesh from Sheol.
15 Beni (my son), if thine lev be chacham,
my own lev shall have simchah.
16 Indeed, my inmost being shall rejoice,
when thy sfatayim (lips) speak meisharim (upright things).
17 Let not thine lev envy chatta'im,
but be thou in the Yirat Hashem kol hayom.
18 For surely there is an acharit (latter end, future),
and thine tikvah shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, beni (my son), and be chacham,
and guide thine lev straight on the derech.
20 Be not among yayin gluttons;
among gluttonous eaters of basar,
21 For the drunkard and the zolel (glutton) shall come to poverty,
and drowsiness shall clothe with rags.
22 Pay heed unto avicha that fathered thee,
and despise not immecha when she is old.
23 Buy emes, and sell it not;
also chochmah, and musar, and binah (understanding).
24 Avi tzaddik (the father of a righteous one) shall greatly rejoice,
and he that fathereth a chacham shall have simchah in him.
25 Avicha and immecha shall be glad,
and she that bore thee shall rejoice.
26 Beni (my son), give me thine lev,
and let thine eynayim delight in my drakhim.
27 For a zonah is a deep pit,
and a nokhriyah (strange woman, foreign woman, seductress, unfaithful wife) is a narrow well.
28 She also lieth in wait like a road bandit,
and increaseth the bogedim (unfaithful) among adam (mankind).
29 Who hath oy (woe)? Who hath sorrow?
Who hath strifes? Who hath complaint?
Who hath needless wounds?
Who hath bloodshot eynayim?
30 They that tarry long at the yayin,
they that turn in to sample mixed wine.
31 Stare not thou into the yayin when it is red,
when it sparkles in the kos (cup),
when it goeth down smoothly.
32 At the acharit (latter end, future) it biteth like a nachash,
and stingeth with venomous poisons like a viper.
33 Thine eynayim shall behold zarot (strange women),
and thine lev shall utter perverse things.
34 Indeed, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the lev yam (heart of the sea),
or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;
they have beaten me, and I felt it not.
Mosai (when) shall I awake?
I will seek yet another drink.
* 23:6 i.e., a miser