WeBible

1 - When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which <FI>is<Fi> before thee,

2 - And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou <FI>art<Fi> a man of appetite.

3 - Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it <FI>is<Fi> lying 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.

5 - For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.

6 - Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,

7 - For as he hath thought in his soul, so <FI>is<Fi> he, `Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart <FI>is<Fi> not with thee.

8 - Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that <FI>are<Fi> sweet.

9 - In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.

10 - Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,

11 - For their Redeemer <FI>is<Fi> strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.

12 - Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.

13 - Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.

14 - Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.

15 - My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,

16 - And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.

17 - Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But--in the fear of Jehovah all the day.

18 - For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.

19 - Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,

20 - Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,

21 - For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.

22 - Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.

23 - Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,

24 - The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.

25 - Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.

26 - Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.

27 - For a harlot <FI>is<Fi> a deep ditch, And a strange woman <FI>is<Fi> a strait pit.

28 - She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.

29 - Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?

30 - Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search 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.

32 - Its latter end--as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.

33 - Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse 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.

35 - `They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake--I seek it yet again!'