Proverbs 23
23
1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,
Consider diligently him that is before thee;
2And put a knife to thy throat,
If thou be a man given to appetite.
3Be not desirous of his dainties;
Seeing they are deceitful food.
4Weary not thyself to be rich;
Cease from thine own wisdom.
5Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?
For riches certainly make themselves wings,
Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,
Neither desire thou his dainties:
7For as he thinketh within himself, so is he:
Eat and drink, saith he to thee;
But his heart is not with thee.
8The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
And lose thy sweet words.
9Speak not in the hearing of a fool;
For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10Remove not the ancient landmark;
And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their cause against thee.
12Apply thy heart unto instruction,
And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13Withhold not correction from the child;
For if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14Thou shalt beat him with the rod,
And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.
15My son, if thy heart be wise,
My heart will be glad, even mine:
16Yea, my heart will rejoice,
When thy lips speak right things.
17Let not thy heart envy sinners;
But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:
18For surely there is a reward;
And thy hope shall not be cut off.
19Hear thou, my son, and be wise,
And guide thy heart in the way.
20Be not among winebibbers,
Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:
21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;
And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.
22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,
And despise not thy mother when she is old.
23Buy the truth, and sell it not;
Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.
25Let thy father and thy mother be glad,
And let her that bare thee rejoice.
26My son, give me thy heart;
And let thine eyes delight in my ways.
27For a harlot is a deep ditch;
And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.
28Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber,
And increaseth the treacherous among men.
29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions?
Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause?
Who hath redness of eyes?
30They that tarry long at the wine;
They that go to seek out mixed wine.
31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
When it sparkleth in the cup,
When it goeth down smoothly:
32At the last it biteth like a serpent,
And stingeth like an adder.
33Thine eyes shall behold strange things,
And thy heart shall utter perverse things.
34Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,
Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;
They have beaten me, and I felt it not:
When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
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Proverbs 23: ASV
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Proverbs 23
23
–6–
1When you are invited
to eat with a king,
use your best manners.
2Don't go and stuff yourself!
That would be just the same
as cutting your throat.
3Don't be greedy for all
of that fancy food!
It may not be so tasty.
–7–
4Give up trying so hard
to get rich.
5Your money flies away
before you know it,
just like an eagle
suddenly taking off.
–8–
6Don't accept an invitation
to eat a selfish person's food,
no matter how good it is.
7People like that take note
of how much you eat.#23.7 People … eat: One possible meaning for the difficult Hebrew text.
They say, “Take all you want!”
But they don't mean it.
8Each bite will come back up,
and all your kind words
will be wasted.
–9–
9Don't talk to fools—
they will make fun of you.
–10–
10Don't move a boundary marker#23.10 marker: See the note at 22.28.
or take the land
that belongs to orphans.
11God All-Powerful is there
to defend them against you.
–11–
12Listen to instruction
and do your best to learn.
–12–
13Don't fail to correct
your children.
You won't kill them
by being firm,
14and it may even
save their lives.
–13–
15My children,
if you show good sense,
I will be happy,
16and if you are truthful,
I will really be glad.
–14–
17Don't be jealous of sinners,
but always honor the Lord.
18Then you will truly have hope
for the future.
–15–
19Listen to me, my children!
Be wise and have enough sense
to follow the right path.
20Don't be a heavy drinker
or stuff yourself with food.
21It will make you feel drowsy,
and you will end up poor
with only rags to wear.
–16–
22Pay attention to your father,
and don't neglect your mother
when she grows old.
23Invest in truth and wisdom,
discipline and good sense,
and don't part with them.
24Make your father truly happy
by living right and showing
sound judgment.
25Make your parents proud,
especially your mother.
–17–
26My son, pay close attention,
and gladly follow
my example.
27Bad women and unfaithful wives
are like a deep pit—
28they are waiting to attack you
like a gang of robbers
with victim after victim.
–18–
29Who is always in trouble?
Who argues and fights?
Who has cuts and bruises?
Whose eyes are red?
30Everyone who stays up late,
having just one more drink.
31Don't even look
at that colorful stuff
bubbling up in the glass!
It goes down so easily,
32but later it bites
like a poisonous snake.
33You will see weird things,
and your mind
will play tricks on you.
34You will feel tossed about
like someone trying to sleep
on a ship in a storm.
35You will be bruised all over,
without even remembering
how it all happened.
And you will lie awake asking,
“When will morning come,
so I can drink some more?”
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.