箴言 23
Chinese Contemporary Bible (Traditional)
23 你若與官長同席，
要注意面對的是誰。
2 如果你是貪吃的人，
就要節制食慾[a]；
3 不可貪戀他的美食，
這美食是圈套。
4 別為錢財耗盡心力，
要明智，適可而止。
5 錢財眨眼之間消逝無蹤，
它必長出翅膀如鷹飛去。
6 不要吃吝嗇人的飯，
不可貪圖他的美味。
7 因為他總是精於算計，
嘴上說「請吃，請喝」，
心裡卻另有盤算。
8 你必嘔出所吃的那點飯，
你說的美言都必枉費。
9 不要和愚人說話，
他必藐視你的智言。
10 不可挪移古時的界石，
不可侵佔孤兒的田地。
11 因他們的救贖主強大，
祂必對付你，替他們伸冤。
12 你要專心接受教誨，
側耳傾聽智言。
13 不要疏於管教孩子，
杖責不會使他斃命，
14 杖責能救他脫離死亡。
15 孩子啊，
你若心裡有智慧，
我心裡也會歡喜。
16 你的口若說正直的話，
我的內心也歡暢不已。
17 不要心裡羡慕罪人，
要終日敬畏耶和華。
18 這樣，你必前途光明，
你的盼望不會幻滅。
19 孩子啊，聽我的話，
要有智慧，心守正道。
20 不要結交酒肉朋友，
21 因為好酒貪吃者必窮困，
貪睡的人必穿破衣爛衫。
22 要聽從生養你的父親，
不可輕視年老的母親。
23 要買真理、智慧、教誨和悟性，
不可賣掉。
24 義人的父親喜樂無限，
智慧之子使父母歡欣。
25 你要使父母快樂，
叫生你的人歡欣。
26 孩子啊，把你的心交給我，
歡然走我的道路。
27 妓女是深坑，淫婦是陷阱；
28 她像強盜般埋伏，
使世間增添奸徒。
29 誰有災禍？誰有憂傷？
誰有爭吵？誰有怨言？
誰無故受傷？誰兩眼發紅？
30 就是那些沉迷醉鄉，
品嚐醇和之酒的人！
31 雖然鮮紅的酒在杯中閃爍，
喝下去痛快，但不要盯著它。
32 它終必像蛇一樣傷你，
像毒蛇一樣咬你。
33 你的眼會看見怪異的景象，
你會神智不清，胡言亂語。
34 你好像躺在怒海中，
又像臥在桅杆頂上。
35 你會說：「人打我，我不痛；
人揍我，我不知。
什麼時候醒了，再乾一杯！」
Footnotes
- 23·2 「節制食慾」希伯來文是「把刀放在喉嚨上」。
Proverbs 23
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 23
When You Sit Down To Dine with a Ruler . . .[a]
1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
take careful note of what is before you.
2 Control yourself[b]
if you are given to overindulgence.
3 Do not yearn for the ruler’s delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
Wealth Passes Away[c]
4 Do not wear yourself out in the pursuit of wealth,
and cease even to think about it.
5 When you fix your gaze upon it,
it is gone before you realize it.
For it suddenly sprouts wings
and flies up to the sky like an eagle.
Do Not Dine with a Stingy Man[d]
6 Do not dine with a stingy man
or hanker for his delicacies.
7 For, like a hair,
they will stick in your throat.
“Eat and drink,” he will say to you,
but he does not mean it in his heart.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten
and find that your compliments have been wasted.
9 Do not waste your words on a fool
who will only despise the wisdom of your comments.[e]
God Vindicates the Defenseless[f]
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
or encroach on the lands of orphans.
11 For their redeemer is powerful,
and he will take up their cause against you.
Direct Your Heart along the Right Path[g]
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
14 Rather, if you beat him with a rod,
you will save him from the netherworld.[h]
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad.
16 Also my innermost being will rejoice
when your lips utter what is right.
17 Do not allow your heart to envy sinners,
but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord;[i]
18 there truly is a future for you,
and your hope will not be cut short.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise
as you direct your heart along the right path.
20 Do not consort with drunkards[j]
or be one of those who gorge themselves with meat.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become impoverished,
and stupor will clothe them in rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother[k] when she is old.
23 Buy truth and do not sell it;
this is wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of a good man will rejoice;
he who begets a wise son will delight in him.
25 May your father and mother be glad;
may the one who bore you exult.
The Prostitute Is a Deep Well[l]
26 My son, pay attention to me
and let your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep well,
and an adulteress is a narrow pit.
28 Such a woman lies in wait like a robber,
and many are the men she deludes.
The Joys and Dangers of Wine[m]
29 Who endures misery? Who endures remorse?
Who has strife? Who has anxiety?
Who becomes bruised without knowing the reason?
Who has blackened eyes?
30 Those who linger over their wine too long,
those who sample blended wines.
31 Do not note how red the wine is,
how it sparkles in the cup,
and how smoothly it goes down.
32 For in the end its bite is like that of a serpent
or that of a poisonous viper.
33 Then your eyes will behold strange sights,
and your heart will utter distorted words.
34 You will become like one sleeping at sea
or clinging to the top of the mast.
35 You will say, “They struck me, but I was not hurt.
They beat me, but I did not feel it.
When will I awaken,
so that I can seek another drink?”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:1 When people are in society, they must know how to conduct themselves. Proverbs claims to impart an art of how to live.
- Proverbs 23:2 Control yourself: literally, “put a knife to your throat”—a proverbial metaphor for restraining one’s appetites.
- Proverbs 23:4 This is an excellent warning: power exposes one to the temptation to amass a fortune with ill-gotten goods: “The love of money is the root of all evils” (1 Tim 6:10; see Prov 15:27; 28:20; Heb 13:5). We must place our trust in God not money (see Jer 17:11; Lk 12:21; 1 Tim 6:17).
- Proverbs 23:6 What good is accepting an invitation that is given out of envy rather than friendship!
- Proverbs 23:9 Despise the wisdom of your comments: fools despise wisdom (Prov 1:7), hate knowledge and correction (Prov 1:22; 12:11), and hurl abuse on those who correct them (Prov 9:7).
- Proverbs 23:10 God comes to the aid of those who do not have anyone to defend them, especially orphans and widows, for he is “the Father of orphans and the defender of widows” (Ps 68:6; see also Jer 50:34). Will take up their cause: see Pss 12:6; 140:13; Isa 3:14-16; Mal 3:5.
- Proverbs 23:12 A father here speaks to his son in order to counsel him, for wisdom is tradition, an apprenticeship in how to behave, the acceptance of an ideal that has shown its value. The conceptions of education set forth undoubtedly deserve to be reviewed and adapted in accordance with the evolution of cultures. But doesn’t the joy of parents consist in knowing that they are understood when they bear witness from the best of themselves!
- Proverbs 23:14 The ancients thought that in order to give instruction one has to be severe (see Prov 19:18). In this ancient conception, a good education was the guarantee of good behavior. Hence, it was a buffer against the punishment of God reserved for the wicked and against the punishment of the netherworld, i.e., death.
- Proverbs 23:17 Fear of the Lord: see note on Prov 1:7. Future . . . hope: see Prov 24:14; Pss 9:19; 37:37; 73:24; Jer 29:11.
- Proverbs 23:20 Do not consort with drunkards: see notes on verses 29-35; 20:1. Drunkenness is also condemned in Deut 21:20; Mt 24:49; Lk 21:34; Rom 13:13; 1 Cor 6:10; Gal 5:21; Eph 5:18; 1 Tim 3:3; 1 Pet 4:3.
- Proverbs 23:22 Do not despise your mother: see Prov 15:20; 30:17.
- Proverbs 23:26 The danger of letting oneself be led astray by a woman who prostitutes herself is described more at length in Prov 5:2; see also note on Prov 2:16.
- Proverbs 23:29 This portrait of a drunkard is lacking in no detail. The last verse indicates the most damaging effect of drunkenness on the drunkard: the desire to drink again and total unconcern for bodily or spiritual harm.
