Proverbs 23
New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition
23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what[a] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
3 Do not desire the ruler’s[b] delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.
5 When your eyes light upon it, it is gone;
for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
flying like an eagle towards heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
do not desire their delicacies;
7 for like a hair in the throat, so are they.[c]
‘Eat and drink!’ they say to you;
but they do not mean it.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not remove an ancient landmark
or encroach on the fields of orphans,
11 for their redeemer is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your mind to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from your children;
if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.
14 If you beat them with the rod,
you will save their lives from Sheol.
15 My child, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16 My soul will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but always continue in the fear of the Lord.
18 Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my child, and be wise,
and direct your mind in the way.
20 Do not be among winebibbers,
or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My child, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe[d] my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit;
an adulteress[e] is a narrow well.
28 She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the number of the faithless.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who linger late over wine,
those who keep trying mixed wines.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 At the last it bites like a serpent,
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind utter perverse things.
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.[f]
35 ‘They struck me’, you will say,[g] ‘but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink.’
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:1 Or who
- Proverbs 23:3 Heb his
- Proverbs 23:7 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 23:26 Another reading is delight in
- Proverbs 23:27 Heb an alien woman
- Proverbs 23:34 Meaning of Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 23:35 Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb lacks you will say
Proverbs 23
King James Version
23 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst 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 sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Proverbios 23
Nueva Versión Internacional (Castilian)
6
23 Cuando te sientes a comer con un gobernante,
fíjate bien en lo que[a] tienes ante ti.
2 Si eres dado a la glotonería,
domina tu apetito.[b]
3 No codicies sus manjares,
pues tal comida no es más que un engaño.
7
4 No te afanes acumulando riquezas;
no te obsesiones con ellas.
5 ¿Acaso has podido verlas? ¡No existen!
Es como si les salieran alas,
pues se van volando como las águilas.
8
6 No te sientes a la mesa de un tacaño,[c]
ni codicies sus manjares,
7 que son como un pelo en la garganta.[d]
«Come y bebe», te dirá,
pero no te lo dirá de corazón.
8 Acabarás vomitando lo que hayas comido,
y tus cumplidos no habrán servido de nada.
9
9 A oídos del necio jamás dirijas palabra,
pues se burlará de tus sabios consejos.
10
10 No cambies de lugar los linderos antiguos,
ni invadas la propiedad de los huérfanos,
11 porque su Defensor es muy poderoso
y contra ti defenderá su causa.
11
12 Aplica tu corazón a la disciplina
y tus oídos al conocimiento.
12
13 No dejes de disciplinar al joven,
que de unos cuantos azotes no se morirá.
14 Dale unos buenos azotes,
y así lo librarás del sepulcro.
13
15 Hijo mío, si tu corazón es sabio,
también mi corazón se regocijará;
16 en lo íntimo de mi ser me alegraré
cuando tus labios hablen con rectitud.
14
17 No envidies en tu corazón a los pecadores;
más bien, muéstrate siempre celoso en el temor del Señor.
18 Cuentas con una esperanza futura,
la cual no será destruida.
15
19 Hijo mío, presta atención y sé sabio;
mantén tu corazón en el camino recto.
20 No te juntes con los que beben mucho vino,
ni con los que se hartan de carne,
21 pues borrachos y glotones, por su indolencia,
acaban harapientos y en la pobreza.
16
22 Escucha a tu padre, que te engendró,
y no desprecies a tu madre cuando sea anciana.
23 Adquiere la verdad y la sabiduría,
la disciplina y el discernimiento,
¡y no los vendas!
24 El padre del justo experimenta gran regocijo;
quien tiene un hijo sabio se solaza en él.
25 ¡Que se alegren tu padre y tu madre!
¡Que se regocije la que te dio la vida!
17
26 Dame, hijo mío, tu corazón
y no pierdas de vista mis caminos.
27 Porque fosa profunda es la prostituta,
y estrecho pozo, la mujer ajena.
28 Se pone al acecho, como un bandido,
y multiplica la infidelidad de los hombres.
18
29 ¿De quién son los lamentos? ¿De quién los pesares?
¿De quién son los pleitos? ¿De quién las quejas?
¿De quién son las heridas gratuitas?
¿De quién los ojos morados?
30 ¡Del que no suelta la botella de vino
ni deja de probar licores!
31 No te fijes en lo rojo que es el vino,
ni en cómo brilla en la copa,
ni en la suavidad con que se desliza;
32 porque acaba mordiendo como serpiente
y envenenando como víbora.
33 Tus ojos verán alucinaciones,
y tu mente imaginará estupideces.
34 Te parecerá estar durmiendo en alta mar,
acostado sobre el mástil mayor.
35 Y dirás: «Me han herido, pero no me duele.
Me han golpeado, pero no lo siento.
¿Cuándo despertaré de este sueño
para ir a buscar otro trago?»
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