Proverbs 23 · The Lantern

When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, thou shalt consider well, what is before thee;

What therefore is "the table of the powerful one," except the mind of that one who says, "I can do all things in Christ who strengthens me"; and "when I am weak, then I am strong"? On this "clean table of the powerful one," that is, in his heart, in his mind is offered "a loaf" to the Lord.

Divine Scripture commands that, when we have been invited to a rich man's banquet, we should with understanding put forth our hand to the dishes. And so for us too the banquet of Scriptures has been set out as a rich man's feast. We have come into a meadow; it has very many flowers: here the rose is red, there the lilies gleam white, there are flowers of every kind.

When you sit down to eat with a ruler, etc. All things are said through allegory: When you sit down to read with a teacher, to be refreshed by the bread of the word, diligently understand what is written, and maintain the discernment of sacred reading in your speech, if, however, you are such a one and so learned that you have in your power your soul, and not as an unlearned on…

And shalt put a knife to thy throat, if, of great appetite, thou art:

Do not crave his dainties, for, the same, are deceitful food.

Do not toil to get wealth, of thine own understanding, forbear:

Wilt thou let thine eye fly thereupon, when it is nothing? for it will, surely make, itself wings, Like an eagle, will it wing its way across the heavens.

Do not eat the food of him that hath a begrudging eye, neither crave thou his dainties;

For, just as he hath thought in his own mind, so, he is: Eat and drink! he may say to thee, but, his heart, is not with thee.

As for thy morsel thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit it, so shalt thou waste thy things so sweet.

In the ears of a dullard, do not speak, for he will despise the good sense of thy words.

Do not move back the ancient boundary, and, into the fields of the fatherless, do not enter;

For, their near of kin, is strong, he, will plead their cause with thee.

Bring, to correction, thy heart, and thine ears, to the sayings of knowledge.

Do not withhold, from a child, correction, When thou smitest him with the rod, he shall not die:

As small children who are negligent in learning become more attentive and obedient after being punished by their teacher or tutor, and as they do not listen before the lash, but, after feeling the pain of a beating, hear and respond as though their ears were just recently opened, improving also in memory, so likewise with those who neglect divine doctrine and spurn the commandm…

If the evil will is always to be left to its own freedom, why are careless shepherds rebuked, and why is it said to them, "The wandering sheep you have not called back, that which was lost you have not sought"?

When someone presumes to commit a sin against God, he ought to suffer a monastic penance. This should be done in a kind and devout spirit, so that through rebuke he may be corrected in this life in such a way that he may not perish in the future. For every sin which is not corrected in this world will be punished in the future life.

Thou, with the rod, shalt smite him, and, his soul from hades, shalt thou deliver.

My son! if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

So shall my reins exult, when thy lips speak the things that are right.

Let not thy heart be envious of sinners, only of the reverence of Yahweh, all day long;

For surely there is a future, and, thine expectation, shall not be cut off.

Hear, thou, my son, and be wise, and lead forward, in duty, thy heart.

Do not be among them who tipple with wine,—among them who are gluttons;

For, the tippler and the glutton, shall come to poverty, and, rags, shall Slumber put on!

Hearken to thy father here, who begat thee, and despise not, when she is old, thy mother.

Truth, buy thou, but do not sell, wisdom, and correction, and understanding.

Greatly shall exult, the father of a righteous man, and, he that begetteth a wise son, shall rejoice in him:

Rejoice shall thy father and thy mother, yea she, shall exult, who bare thee.

Oh give, my son, thy mind unto me, and let, thine eyes, observe, my ways;

For, a deep chasm, is the unchaste woman, and, a narrow pit, the female unknown;

Yea, she, as for prey, lieth in wait, and, the treacherous among mankind, she causeth to abound.

Who hath woe? Who hath outcry of pain? Who hath contentions? Who hath complaining? Who hath needless wounds? Who hath dullness of eyes?

By the mention of redness of eyes—a sign of death—it is made clear that the wine-bibber is already dead to the Word and to reason. It declares his death to the Lord. If one forgets the motives that prompt him to seek the true life, he is dragged down to corruption.

Since you are the presbyters and deacons of Christ, you ought always to be sober, both among yourselves and among others, so that you may be able to warn the unruly. Now the Scripture says, "The men in power are passionate.

To whom wounds without cause? etc. Wounds without cause, because many, filled beyond measure with wine, have received wounds in their limbs out of fear, which they have endured for no cause; weakening of the eyes, because the immoderate drink of wine produces darkness to many physical sights and blindness of inner senses.

They who tarry over wine, they who go in to search for mixed wine.

Do not look on wine when it becometh red, when it giveth in the cup its sparkle, glideth down smoothly.

Its after effect, is that, like a serpent, it biteth, and, like a viper, it doth sting.

Thine eyes, will see strange women, and, thy heart, will speak perverse things:

So shalt thou become, as one lying down in the heart of the sea,—or as one lying down on the top of the mastgear:

They smote me—I felt no pain, They struck me down—I noticed it not,—When shall I wake up? I will go on, I will seek it, again!

Proverbs23