Proverbs 23:11-28

¹¹For the neighbour of them is strong, and he shall deem their cause against thee. (For their Friend is strong, and he shall judge their case against thee.)

¹²Thine heart enter to teaching, and thine ears to the words of knowing. (Let thy heart draw close to instruction, and thy ears to words of knowledge.)

¹³Do not thou withdraw chastising, (or discipline), from a child; for though thou smitest him with a rod, he shall not die.

¹⁴Thou shalt smite him with a rod, and thou shalt deliver his soul from hell. (Thou shalt strike him with a rod, and so thou shalt rescue his soul from Sheol, or from the land of the dead, or from hell itself.)

¹⁵My son, if thy soul is wise, mine heart shall have joy with thee; (My son, if thou be wise, my heart shall have joy over thee;)

¹⁶and my reins shall make full out joy, when thy lips speak rightful thing(s).

¹⁷(Let) Thine heart follow not sinners; but be thou in the dread of the Lord all day (or but be thou in the fear of the Lord or with reverence for the Lord all day long).

¹⁸For thou shalt have hope at the last, and thine abiding shall not be done away.

¹⁹My son, hear thou, and be wise, and (ad)dress thy soul in the way (or and direct thy soul to the right way).

²⁰Do not thou be in the feasts of drinkers, neither in the oft eatings of them, that bring together fleshes to eat. (Do not thou be at the feasts of drinkers, nor at the oft eatings of those who bring much meat to eat.)

²¹For men giving attention to drinks, and giving morsels together, shall be wasted, and napping shall be clothed with clothes rent. (For those giving attention to drinks, and giving morsels to each other, shall be wasted, or destroyed, and their napping shall eventually clothe them with torn clothes.)

²²Hear thy father, that begat thee, (or Listen to thy father, who begat thee); and despise not thy mother, when she is eld.

²³Buy thou truth, and do not thou sell (off) wisdom, and doctrine, and understanding.

²⁴The father of a just man joyeth full out with joy; he that begat a wise man, shall be glad in him. (The father of a righteous person rejoiceth with great joy; he who begat someone who is wise, shall take much pleasure, or pride, in him.)

²⁵Thy father and thy mother have joy, and he that begat thee, make full out joy. (So let thy father and thy mother have joy over thee, and let she who bare thee, rejoice.)

²⁶My son, give thine heart to me, and thine eyes keep my ways.

²⁷For a whore is a deep ditch, and an alien woman, is a strait pit. (For a whore is a deep ditch, and a woman whom thou hath been intimate with, but who is not thy wife, is a narrow pit.)

²⁸She setteth ambush in the way, as a thief, (or She setteth ambush on the way, like a thief); and shall add despisers in men, that is, (she) shall multiply (the) despisers of God among men.