Sprichwörter 23

1When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face.

2And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.

3Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.

4Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.

5Lift 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.

6Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:

7Because 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.

8The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt loose thy beautiful words.

9Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.

10Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:

11For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.

12Let thy heart apply itself to instruction: and thy ears to words of knowledge.

13Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.

14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell.

15My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:

16And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.

17Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:

18Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way.

20Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:

21Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together shall be consumed; and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags.

22Hearken to thy father, that beget thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.

25Let thy father, and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.

26My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.

27For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.

29Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

30Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink of their cups.

31Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,

32But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.

33Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.

34And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep, when the stern is lost.

35And 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?

1[Quando sederis ut comedas cum principe, diligenter attende quæ apposita sunt ante faciem tuam.

2Et statue cultrum in gutture tuo: si tamen habes in potestate animam tuam.

3Ne desideres de cibis ejus, in quo est panis mendacii.

4Noli laborare ut diteris, sed prudentiæ tuæ pone modum.

5Ne erigas oculos tuos ad opes quas non potes habere, quia facient sibi pennas quasi aquilæ, et volabunt in cælum.

6Ne comedas cum homine invido, et ne desideres cibos ejus:

7quoniam in similitudinem arioli et conjectoris æstimat quod ignorat. Comede et bibe, dicet tibi; et mens ejus non est tecum.

8Cibos quos comederas evomes, et perdes pulchros sermones tuos.

9In auribus insipientium ne loquaris, qui despicient doctrinam eloquii tui.

10Ne attingas parvulorum terminos, et agrum pupillorum ne introëas:

11propinquus enim illorum fortis est, et ipse judicabit contra te causam illorum.]

12[Ingrediatur ad doctrinam cor tuum, et aures tuæ ad verba scientiæ.

13Noli subtrahere a puero disciplinam: si enim percusseris eum virga, non morietur.

14Tu virga percuties eum, et animam ejus de inferno liberabis.

15Fili mi, si sapiens fuerit animus tuus, gaudebit tecum cor meum:

16et exsultabunt renes mei, cum locuta fuerint rectum labia tua.

17Non æmuletur cor tuum peccatores, sed in timore Domini esto tota die:

18quia habebis spem in novissimo, et præstolatio tua non auferetur.

19Audi, fili mi, et esto sapiens, et dirige in via animum tuum.

20Noli esse in conviviis potatorum, nec in comessationibus eorum qui carnes ad vescendum conferunt:

21quia vacantes potibus et dantes symbola consumentur, et vestietur pannis dormitatio.

22Audi patrem tuum, qui genuit te, et ne contemnas cum senuerit mater tua.

23Veritatem eme, et noli vendere sapientiam, et doctrinam, et intelligentiam.

24Exsultat gaudio pater justi; qui sapientem genuit, lætabitur in eo.

25Gaudeat pater tuus et mater tua, et exsultet quæ genuit te.

26Præbe, fili mi, cor tuum mihi, et oculi tui vias meas custodiant.

27Fovea enim profunda est meretrix, et puteus angustus aliena.

28Insidiatur in via quasi latro, et quos incautos viderit, interficiet.]

29[Cui væ? cujus patri væ? cui rixæ? cui foveæ? cui sine causa vulnera? cui suffusio oculorum?

30nonne his qui commorantur in vino, et student calicibus epotandis?

31Ne intuearis vinum quando flavescit, cum splenduerit in vitro color ejus: ingreditur blande,

32sed in novissimo mordebit ut coluber, et sicut regulus venena diffundet.

33Oculi tui videbunt extraneas, et cor tuum loquetur perversa.

34Et eris sicut dormiens in medio mari, et quasi sopitus gubernator, amisso clavo.

35Et dices: Verberaverunt me, sed non dolui; traxerunt me, et ego non sensi. Quando evigilabo, et rursus vina reperiam?]

1When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face,

2and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power.

3Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit.

4Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence.

5Do not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the sky.

6Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods.

7For, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you; and his mind is not with you.

8The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words.

9Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence.

10Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless.

11For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you.

12Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge.

13Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

14You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell.

15My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you.

16And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright.

17Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long.

18For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away.

19Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way.

20Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh.

21For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags.

22Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old.

23Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding.

24The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him.

25Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult.

26My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways.

27For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well.

28She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death.

29Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes?

30Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups?

31Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly,

32but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes.

33Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities.

34And you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helm.

35And you will say: “They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?”