¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully what is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat[#sn The expression “put a knife to your throat” is an idiom that means “curb your appetite” or “control yourself” (cf. TEV). The instruction was from a time when people dealt with all-powerful tyrants. To enter the presence of such a person and indulge one’s appetites would be to take a very high risk.]

if you possess a large appetite.

³Do not crave that ruler’s delicacies,[#tn Heb “his”; the referent (the ruler mentioned in v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.]

for that food is deceptive.

⁴Do not wear yourself out to become rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself.

⁵When you gaze upon riches, they are gone,[#tc The Kethib is הֲתָעוּף (hata’uf), “do your eyes fly [light] on it?” The Qere is the Hiphil, הֲתָעִיף (hata’if) “do you cause your eyes to fly on it?” But the line is difficult. The question may be indirect: If you cast your eyes on it, it is gone – when you think you are close, it slips away.tn The term “riches” is not in the Hebrew text, but is supplied in the translation based on the previous verse.]

for they surely make wings for themselves,

and fly off into the sky like an eagle!

⁶Do not eat the food of a stingy person,[#tn Heb “an evil eye.” This is the opposite of the “good eye” which meant the generous man. The “evil eye” refers to a person who is out to get everything for himself (cf. NASB, NCV, CEV “selfish”). He is ill-mannered and inhospitable (e.g., Prov 28:22). He is up to no good – even though he may appear to be a host.]

do not crave his delicacies;

⁷for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind.[#tc The line is difficult; it appears to mean that the miser is the kind of person who has calculated the cost of everything in his mind as he offers the food. The LXX has: “Eating and drinking with him is as if one should swallow a hair; do not introduce him to your company nor eat bread with him.” The Hebrew verb “to calculate” (שָׁעַר, sha’ar) with a change of vocalization and of sibilant would yield “hair” (שֵׂעָר, se’ar) – “like a hair in the throat [נֶפֶשׁ, nefesh], so is he.” This would picture an irritating experience. The Instruction of Amenemope uses “blocking the throat” in a similar saying (chapt. 11, 14:7 [ANET 423]). The suggested change is plausible and is followed by NRSV; but the rare verb “to calculate” in the MT would be easier to defend on the basis of the canons of textual criticism because it is the more difficult reading.; #tn The phrase “the cost” does not appear in the Hebrew but is implied by the verb; it is supplied in the translation for the sake of clarity.; #tn Heb “soul.”]

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you;

⁸you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten,[#sn Eating and drinking with a selfish miser would be irritating and disgusting. The line is hyperbolic; the whole experience turns the stomach.]

and will have wasted your pleasant words.

⁹Do not speak in the ears of a fool,[#sn The mention of “the ears” emphasizes the concerted effort to get the person’s undivided attention. However, a fool rejects instruction and discipline.]

for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move an ancient boundary stone,

or take over the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their Protector is strong;[#tn The participle גֹּאֵל (go’el) describes a “kinsman redeemer.” Some English versions explicitly cite “God” (e.g., NCV, CEV) or “the Lord” (e.g. TEV). sn The Hebrew term describes a “kinsman-redeemer.” That individual would be a rich or powerful relative who can protect the family; he does this by paying off the debts of a poor relative, buying up the property of a relative who sells himself into slavery, marrying the widow of a deceased relative to keep the inheritance in the family, or taking vengeance on someone who harms a relative, that vengeance often resulting in delivering (“redeeming”) the relative from bondage. If there was no human “kinsman redeemer,” then the defenseless had to rely on God to perform these actions (e.g., Gen 48:16; Exod 6:6; Job 19:25; Isa 41–63). In the prophetic literature God is presented as the Redeemer in that he takes vengeance on the enemies (the Babylonians) to deliverer his people (kin). In this proverb the Lord is probably the Protector of these people who will champion their cause and set things right.]

he will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction[#tn Heb “bring.” The Hiphil imperative “come; enter” means “to apply the heart,” to use the heart or mind in the process. The same would be true in the second half: “to bring the ears” would mean to listen very carefully. Cf. TEV “Pay attention.”]

and your ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child;

even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴If you strike him with the rod,[#tn Or “punish” (NIV). The syntax of these two lines suggests a conditional clause (cf. NCV, NRSV).]

you will deliver him from death.

¹⁵My child, if your heart is wise,[#tn Heb “my son,” although the context does not limit this exhortation to male children.]

then my heart also will be glad;

¹⁶my soul will rejoice[#tn Heb “my kidneys”; in biblical Hebrew the term was used for the innermost being, the soul, the central location of the passions. Cf. NASB, NIV “my inmost being.”]

when your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners,[#tn The verb in this line is אַל־יְקַנֵּא (’al-yÿqanne’), the Piel jussive negated. The verb means “to be jealous, to be zealous”; it describes passionate intensity for something. In English, if the object is illegitimate, it is called “envy”; if it is correct, it is called “zeal.” Here the warning is not to envy the sinners. The second colon could use the verb in the positive sense to mean “but rather let your passion burn for the fear of the Lord.”]

but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord all the time.

¹⁸For surely there is a future,[#tn Heb “end” (so KJV); ASV “a reward.”]

and your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my child, and be wise,[#tn Heb “my son,” but the immediate context does not limit this to male children.]

and guide your heart on the right way.

²⁰Do not spend time among drunkards,[#tn Heb “do not be among,” but in the sense of “associate with” (TEV); “join” (NIV); “consort…with” (NAB).; #tn The verb סָבָא (sava’) means “to imbibe; to drink largely.” The participial construction here, סֹבְאֵי־יַיִן (sov’e-yayin), describes “drunkards” (cf. NLT) which is somewhat stronger than saying it refers to “people who drink too much” (cf. NIV, TEV).]

among those who eat too much meat,

²¹because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished,

and drowsiness clothes them with rags.

²²Listen to your father who begot you,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Acquire truth and do not sell it –[#tn Heb “buy” (so KJV, NASB, NIV, NLT); CEV “Invest in truth.”sn The sixteenth saying is an instruction to buy/acquire the kind of life that pleases God and brings joy to parents. “Getting truth” would mean getting training in the truth, and getting wisdom and understanding would mean developing the perception and practical knowledge of the truth.]

wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.

²⁴The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly;[#tc The Qere reading has the imperfect יָגִיל (yagil) with the cognate accusative גִּיל (gil) which intensifies the meaning and the specific future of this verb.]

whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.

²⁵May your father and your mother have joy;

may she who bore you rejoice.

²⁶Give me your heart, my son,[#tn Heb “my son”; the reference to a “son” is retained in the translation here because in the following lines the advice is to avoid women who are prostitutes.]

and let your eyes observe my ways;

²⁷for a prostitute is like a deep pit;[#tn The comparative “like” does not appear in the Hebrew text, but is implied by the metaphor; it is supplied for the sake of clarity.]

a harlot is like a narrow well.

²⁸Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber,[#tn The noun חֶתֶף (khetef) is defined by BDB 369 s.v. as “prey,” but this is the only occurrence of the word. The related verb BDB 368-69 s.v. חָתַף defines as “to seize; to snatch away” (with an Aramaic cognate meaning “to break in pieces” [Pa], and an Arabic word “death”). But the only occurrence of that word is in Job 9:12, where it is defined as “seizes.” So in this passage the noun could have either a passive sense (what is seized = prey), or an active sense (the one who seizes = a robber, bandit). The traditional rendering is “prey” (KJV); most modern English versions have the active sense (“robber” or similar; cf. NIV “like a bandit”). Since the prepositional phrase (the simile) is modifying the woman, the active sense works better in the translation.]

and increases the unfaithful among men.

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow?[#sn The eighteenth saying is about excessive drinking. The style changes here as the sage breaks into a vivid use of the imagination. It begins with a riddle describing the effects of drunkenness (v. 29) and gives the answer in v. 30; instructions follow in v. 31, with the consequences described in v. 32; the direct address continues in vv. 33 and 34; and the whole subject is concluded with the drunkard’s own words in v. 35 (M. E. Andrews, “Variety of Expression in Proverbs 23:29-35,” VT 28 [1978]: 102-3).]

Who has contentions? Who has complaints?

Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the eyes?

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 goes down smoothly.

³²Afterward it bites like a snake,[#tn Heb “its end”; NASB “At the last”; TEV (interpretively) “The next morning.”]

and stings like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things,[#tn The feminine plural of זָר (zar, “strange things”) refers to the trouble one has in seeing and speaking when drunk.]

and your mind will speak perverse things.

³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,[#tn Heb “heart.” The idiom here means “middle”; KJV “in the midst.”]

and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging.

³⁵You will say, “They have struck me, but I am not harmed![#tn The phrase “You will say” is supplied in the translation to make it clear that the drunkard is now speaking.]

They beat me, but I did not know it!

When will I awake? I will look for another drink.”