When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,
Consider diligently {Or, what}him that is before thee;
{Or, For thou wilt put}And put a knife to thy throat,
If thou be a man given to appetite.
Be not desirous of his dainties;
Seeing they are deceitful food.
Weary not thyself to be rich;
Cease {Or, by reason of thine own understanding}from thine own wisdom.
{Or, Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone Hebrew: Shall thine eyes fly upon it, and it is not?}Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings,
Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,
Neither desire thou his dainties:
For {Or, as one that reckoneth}as he thinketh within himself, so is he:
Eat and drink, saith he to thee;
But his heart is not with thee.
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
And lose thy sweet words.
Speak not in the hearing of a fool;
For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
Remove not the ancient landmark;
And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their cause against thee.
Apply thy heart unto {Or, correction}instruction,
And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
Withhold not correction from the child;
For {Or, though}if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
Thou shalt beat him with the rod,
And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.
My son, if thy heart be wise,
My heart will be glad, even mine:
Yea, my {Hebrew: reins.}heart will rejoice,
When thy lips speak right things.
Let not thy heart envy sinners;
But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:
For surely there is a {Or, sequel Or, future Hebrew: latter end.}reward;
And thy hope shall not be cut off.
Hear thou, my son, and be wise,
And guide thy heart in the way.
Be not among winebibbers,
Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,
And despise not thy mother when she is old.
Buy the truth, and sell it not;
Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.
Let thy father and thy mother be glad,
And let her that bare thee rejoice.
My son, give me thy heart;
And let thine eyes {Another reading is, observe.}delight in my ways.
For a harlot is a deep ditch;
And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
Yea, she lieth in wait {Or, as for a prey}as a robber,
And increaseth the treacherous among men.
Who hath {Hebrew: Oh!}woe? who hath {Hebrew: Alas!}sorrow? who hath contentions?
Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause?
Who hath {Or, darkness}redness of eyes?
They that tarry long at the wine;
They that go to {Or, try}seek out mixed wine.
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
When it sparkleth in the cup,
When it {Or, moveth itself aright}goeth down smoothly:
At the last it biteth like a serpent,
And stingeth like an adder.
Thine eyes shall behold {Or, strange women}strange things,
And thy heart shall utter perverse things.
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.
They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, and I felt it not:
When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 23,5 Spr 23,5
Incline my heart unto thy testimonies,And not to covetousness.
And Jacob their father said unto them, Me have ye bereaved of my children: Joseph is not, and Simeon is not, and ye will take Benjamin away: all these things are {Or, upon}against me.
For riches are not for ever:And doth the crown endure unto all generations?
Turn away mine eyes from beholding vanity,And quicken me in thy ways.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; vanity of vanities, all is vanity.
that there came a messenger unto Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the asses feeding beside them;
and {Hebrew: Sheba.}the Sabeans fell upon them, and took them away: yea, they have slain the {Hebrew: young men.}servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The fire of God is fallen from heaven, and hath burned up the sheep and the {Hebrew: young men.}servants, and consumed them; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
While he was yet speaking, there came also another, and said, The Chaldeans made three bands, and {Or, made a raid}fell upon the camels, and have taken them away, yea, and slain the {Hebrew: young men.}servants with the edge of the sword; and I only am escaped alone to tell thee.
But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy {Or, dishonest gain}covetousness, and for shedding innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do it.
Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher; all is vanity.
Surely every man walketh {Or, as a shadow}in a vain show;Surely they are disquieted {Or, for vanity}in vain:He heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the vainglory of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
Wherefore do ye {Hebrew: weigh.}spend money for that which is not bread? and your {Or, carnings}labor for that which satisfieth not? hearken diligently unto me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun, namely, riches kept by the owner thereof to his hurt:
But this I say, brethren, the time {Or, is shortened henceforth, that both those &c.}is shortened, that henceforth both those that have wives may be as though they had none;
and those that weep, as though they wept not; and those that rejoice, as though they rejoiced not; and those that buy, as though they possessed not;
and those that use the world, as not using it to the full: for the fashion of this world passeth away.
and those riches perish by evil {Or, travail}adventure; and if he hath begotten a son, there is nothing in his hand.
Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves {Greek: dig through.}break through and steal:
Charge them that are rich in this present {Or, age.}world, that they be not highminded, nor have their hope set on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who giveth us richly all things to enjoy;
Come now, ye rich, weep and howl for your miseries that are coming upon you.
Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten.