1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a Prince, attend diligently what things are set before thy face:
1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.
2 and set a knife in thy throat, if notwithstanding thou have thy soul in thine own power.
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.
3 Desire not his meats, in which is the breath of lying.
3 Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.
4 Labour not to be rich: but set a mean to thy prudence.
4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
5 Lift not up thine eyes to the riches, which thou canst not have: because they shall make to themselves wings as of an eagle, and shall fly into heaven.
5 Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.
6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats.
6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
7 Because after the similitude of a soothsayer, and diviner, he esteemeth that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.
7 Because like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.
8 The meats which thou hadst eaten thou shalt vomit up: and shalt lose thy beautiful words.
8 The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.
9 Speak not in the ears of the unwise: because they will despise the doctrine of thy speech.
9 Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.
10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and into the field of pupils enter not.
10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:
11 For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
11 For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.
12 Let thy heart enter into doctrine: and thine ears to words of knowledge.
12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.
13 Withdraw not discipline from a child: for if thou shalt strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
13 Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt strike him with the rod: and deliver his soul from hell.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.
15 My son, if thy mind shall be wise, my heart shall be glad with thee:
15 My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:
16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak right things.
16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but in the fear of our Lord be thou all the day:
17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:
18 because thou shalt have hope in the later end, and thine exaltation shall not be taken away.
18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.
19 Hear my son, & be wise: & direct thy mind in the way.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.
20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their comessations, which contribute flesh together to eat:
20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:
21 because they that are given to drinking, and that pay shots, shall be consumed, and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
21 Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.
22 Hear thy father, that begot thee: and contemn not thy mother when she is old.
22 Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth, and sell not wisdom, and doctrine, and intelligence.
23 Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the just rejoiceth with gladness: he that hath begotten a wiseman, shall rejoice in him.
24 The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.
25 Let thy father be glad and thy mother, and let her rejoice that bare thee.
25 Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.
26 My son give me thy heart: & let thine eyes keep my ways.
26 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.
27 For an harlot is a deep ditch: & a strange woman a narrow pit.
27 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and whom she shall see not circumspect, she will kill.
28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.
29 To whom is woe? To whose father woe? To whom brawls? To whom ditches? To whom wounds without cause? To whom blood-shedding eyes?
29 Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 Is it not to them that pass their time in wine, and study to drink out their cups?
30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.
31 Behold not wine when it waxeth yellow, when the colour thereof shall shine in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
31 Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,
32 but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and as a basilisk it will pour abroad poisons.
32 But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.
33 Thine eyes shall see strange women, and thy heart shall speak perverse things.
33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as the governor fast asleep, the stern being lost.
34 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.
35 And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not grieved: they drew me, and I felt not: When shall I awake, and find wines again?
35 And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake, and find wine again?