Proverbs · Young's Literal Translation
Proverbs 23 Young's Literal Translation
Audio: World English Bible (WEB), read by Winfred W. Henson · About the recordings
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
2 And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.
2 put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
3 Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.
3 Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
4 Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
4 Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
5 For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.
5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
6 Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
6 Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies,
7 For as he hath thought in his soul, so [is] he, 'Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart [is] not with thee.
7 for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
8 Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.
8 You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
9 In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.
9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
10 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.
11 for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
12 Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
13 Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.
14 Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
16 And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
17 Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But — in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
18 For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
20 Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
20 Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;
21 For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22 Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23 Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
23 Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
24 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25 Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
26 Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
26 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
30 Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31 See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
31 Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
32 Its latter end — as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
32 In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
33 Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34 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.
34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
35 'They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake — I seek it yet again!'
35 “They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I will look for more.”
Cross references (34)
Related passages for each verse, from the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge as collected and ranked by readers at OpenBible.info.
- 1 Genesis 43:32–34; Jude 12
- 2 Philippians 3:19; Matthew 18:8–9; 1 Corinthians 9:27
- 3 Proverbs 23:6; Psalm 141:4; Luke 21:34; Ephesians 4:22; Daniel 1:8
- 4 Hebrews 13:5; Proverbs 28:20; 1 Timothy 6:8–10; Matthew 6:19; Proverbs 3:5
- 5 Proverbs 27:24; 1 John 2:16; Matthew 6:19; James 5:1–2; 1 Timothy 6:17
- 6 Psalm 141:4; Proverbs 23:3; Daniel 1:8–10; Deuteronomy 15:9; Matthew 20:15
- 7 Psalm 12:2; Psalm 55:21; Judges 16:15; Matthew 9:3–4; Luke 11:37–54
- 9 Proverbs 9:7–8; Matthew 7:6; Proverbs 26:4–5; Proverbs 1:7; Acts 13:45–46
- 10 Zechariah 7:10; Proverbs 22:28; Jeremiah 22:3; Deuteronomy 27:17; James 1:27
- 11 Proverbs 22:23; Job 19:25; Exodus 22:22–24; Deuteronomy 27:19; Psalm 12:5
- 12 Proverbs 5:1–2; Proverbs 2:2–6; Proverbs 23:19; James 1:21–25; Ezekiel 33:31
- 13 Proverbs 13:24; Proverbs 29:15; Proverbs 19:18; Proverbs 29:17
- 14 1 Corinthians 5:5; Proverbs 22:15; 1 Corinthians 11:32
- 15 Proverbs 23:24–25; 2 John 4; Zephaniah 3:17; 3 John 3–4; Proverbs 29:3
- 16 Proverbs 8:6; Ephesians 5:4; James 3:2; Ephesians 4:29; Colossians 4:4
- 17 Proverbs 28:14; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Proverbs 15:16; 1 Peter 1:17; Ecclesiastes 5:7
- 18 Hebrews 10:35; Jeremiah 29:11; Psalm 9:18; Proverbs 24:14; Philippians 1:20
- 19 Proverbs 23:26; Proverbs 23:12; Proverbs 4:10–23; Proverbs 6:6; Proverbs 9:6
- 20 Luke 21:34; Ephesians 5:18; Isaiah 5:22; Romans 13:13; Isaiah 5:11
- 21 Proverbs 21:17; Philippians 3:19; Proverbs 19:15; Deuteronomy 21:20; Galatians 5:21
- 22 Proverbs 30:17; Proverbs 1:8; John 19:26–27; Proverbs 6:20; Ephesians 6:1–2
- 23 Proverbs 18:15; Matthew 13:44; Psalm 119:72; Proverbs 16:16; Isaiah 55:1
- 24 Proverbs 10:1; Proverbs 15:20; Proverbs 23:15–16; Proverbs 29:3; Philemon 20
- 25 Proverbs 17:25; Luke 1:58; Luke 11:27–28; 1 Chronicles 4:9–10; Luke 1:40–47
- 26 Psalm 119:2; Psalm 119:9–11; Deuteronomy 6:5; Matthew 10:37–38; Proverbs 4:25–27
- 27 Proverbs 22:14
- 28 Ecclesiastes 7:26; Proverbs 7:12; 1 Corinthians 10:8; Hosea 4:11; Proverbs 22:14
- 29 Ephesians 5:18; 1 Samuel 25:36–37; Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 5:22; 2 Samuel 13:28
- 30 Ephesians 5:18; Isaiah 5:11; Proverbs 20:1; Proverbs 9:2; Amos 6:6
- 31 1 John 2:16; Psalm 119:37; 2 Samuel 11:2; Proverbs 6:25; Mark 9:47
- 32 Isaiah 28:7–8; Isaiah 28:3; Luke 16:25–26; Exodus 7:12; Amos 5:19
- 33 Jude 12–13; Proverbs 31:5; Proverbs 2:12; Hosea 7:5; Genesis 19:32–38
- 34 1 Thessalonians 5:2–7; 1 Kings 16:9; Luke 21:34; Luke 17:27–29; Matthew 24:38
- 35 Jeremiah 5:3; Isaiah 56:12; 1 Corinthians 15:32–34; 2 Peter 2:22; Proverbs 26:11
Cross references: OpenBible.info (CC BY), drawn mainly from the public-domain Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. · Sources & licences
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… effect it is written in a certain place, "If thou sittest down to sup at a ruler's table, make wise observation of what is set before thee; and put to thy hand, knowing that it will be thy duty to make similar provision in turn." You know what is meant by the ruler's table: you there find the body and …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)
For he who spares his child, ruins it; but he who spares it not, preserves." To which effect also a certain wise man said, "If thou beat thy son with a rod, he shall not die, but thou shalt deliver his soul from death." And again, "He that refresheth his son, shall bind up his wounds." This takes place in …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 10 (1888)
… the meaning of what we read in the Proverbs of Solomon: "If thou sittest down to supper at the table of a ruler, consider wisely what is set before thee; and so put to thy hand, knowing that thou art bound to make similar preparations." For what is the table of the ruler, but that from which we take the …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 7 (1888)