- If thou sit to sup at the table of a prince, consider attentively
the things set before thee:
- and apply thine hand, knowing that it behoves thee to prepare such
meats: but if thou art very insatiable,
- desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
- If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; but refrain
thyself in thy wisdom.
- If thou shouldest fix thine eye upon him, he will disappear; for
wings like an eagle's are prepared for him, and he returns to the
house of his master.
- Sup not with an envious man, neither desire thou his meats:
- so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do
not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
- for he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.
- Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at
thy wise words.
- Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the
possession of the fatherless:
- for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their
cause with thee.
- Apply thine heart to instruction, and prepare thine ears for words
of discretion.
- Refrain not from chastening a child; for if thou beat him with the
rod, he shall not die.
- For thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul
from death.
- Son, if thy heart be wise, thou shalt also gladden my heart;
- and thy lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
- Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the
Lord all the day.
- For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have
posterity; and thine hope shall not be removed.
- Hear, my son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts
of thine heart.
- Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and
purchases of flesh:
- for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every
sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
- Hearken, my son, to thy father which begot thee, and
despise not
thy mother because she is grown old.
- A righteous father brings up his children well; and his
soul rejoices over a wise son.
- Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, and let her that
bore thee be glad.
- My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my
ways.
- For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; anda strange well is
narrow.
- For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall
be cut off.
- Who has woe? who trouble? who has quarrels? and
who vexations and disputes? who has bruises without a cause?
whose eyes are livid?
- Are not those of them that stay long at wine? are not
those of them that haunt the places where banquets
are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse
with them @[a] openly.
- For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, thou shalt
afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
- But at last such a one stretches himself out as one
smitten by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as a horned
serpent.
- Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, then thy mouth
shall speak perverse things.
- And thou shalt lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a
great storm.
- And thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained; and they
mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go
and seek those with whom I may go in company?
[a] Gr. in public walks.
[English translation of the Septuagint by Sir Lancelot Charles Lee
Brenton (1807-1862) originally published by Samuel Bagster & Sons,
Ltd., London, 1851]