Proverbs 23
23
1While dining with a ruler,
pay attention to what is put before you.
2If you are a big eater,
put a knife to your throat;
3don’t desire all the delicacies,
for he might be trying to trick you.
4Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
5In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
for it will sprout wings
and fly away like an eagle.
6Don’t eat with people who are stingy;
don’t desire their delicacies.
7They are always thinking about how much it costs.#23:7 The meaning of the Hebrew is uncertain.
“Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
8You will throw up what little you’ve eaten,
and your compliments will be wasted.
9Don’t waste your breath on fools,
for they will despise the wisest advice.
10Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers;
don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.
11For their Redeemer#23:11 Or redeemer. is strong;
he himself will bring their charges against you.
12Commit yourself to instruction;
listen carefully to words of knowledge.
13Don’t fail to discipline your children.
The rod of punishment won’t kill them.
14Physical discipline
may well save them from death.#23:14 Hebrew from Sheol.
15My child,#23:15 Hebrew My son; also in 23:19. if your heart is wise,
my own heart will rejoice!
16Everything in me will celebrate
when you speak what is right.
17Don’t envy sinners,
but always continue to fear the Lord.
18You will be rewarded for this;
your hope will not be disappointed.
19My child, listen and be wise:
Keep your heart on the right course.
20Do not carouse with drunkards
or feast with gluttons,
21for they are on their way to poverty,
and too much sleep clothes them in rags.
22Listen to your father, who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23Get the truth and never sell it;
also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.
24The father of godly children has cause for joy.
What a pleasure to have children who are wise.#23:24 Hebrew to have a wise son.
25So give your father and mother joy!
May she who gave you birth be happy.
26O my son, give me your heart.
May your eyes take delight in following my ways.
27A prostitute is a dangerous trap;
a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.
28She hides and waits like a robber,
eager to make more men unfaithful.
29Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?
Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?
Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,
trying out new drinks.
31Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,
how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
32For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;
it stings like a viper.
33You will see hallucinations,
and you will say crazy things.
34You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,
clinging to a swaying mast.
35And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.
I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.
When will I wake up
so I can look for another drink?”
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Proverbs 23: NLT
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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
For more information about the NLT:
Proverbs 23
23
1When you sit to eat with a ruler,
consider diligently what is before you;
2put a knife to your throat
if you are a man given to appetite.
3Don’t be desirous of his dainties,
since they are deceitful food.
4Don’t weary yourself to be rich.
In your wisdom, show restraint.
5Why do you set your eyes on that which is not?
For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
6Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye,
and don’t crave his delicacies,
7for as he thinks about the cost, so he is.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
8You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten
and waste your pleasant words.
9Don’t speak in the ears of a fool,
for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10Don’t move the ancient boundary stone.
Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11for their Defender is strong.
He will plead their case against you.
12Apply your heart to instruction,
and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13Don’t withhold correction from a child.
If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14Punish him with the rod,
and save his soul from Sheol.#23:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
15My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad, even mine.
16Yes, my heart will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17Don’t let your heart envy sinners,
but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
18Indeed surely there is a future hope,
and your hope will not be cut off.
19Listen, my son, and be wise,
and keep your heart on the right path!
20Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine,
or those who gorge themselves on meat;
21for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor;
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy the truth, and don’t sell it.
Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24The father of the righteous has great joy.
Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25Let your father and your mother be glad!
Let her who bore you rejoice!
26My son, give me your heart;
and let your eyes keep in my ways.
27For a prostitute is a deep pit;
and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28Yes, she lies in wait like a robber,
and increases the unfaithful among men.
29Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has strife?
Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises?
Who has bloodshot eyes?
30Those who stay long at the wine;
those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31Don’t look at the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly.
32In the end, it bites like a snake,
and poisons like a viper.
33Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea,
or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
35“They hit me, and I was not hurt!
They beat me, and I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up? I can do it again.
I will look for more.”
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