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 sit and eat with an important person, remember who you are with. 2Never eat too much, even if you are very hungry. 3Don’t eat too much of his fine food. It might be a trick.
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4Don’t ruin your health trying to get rich. If you are smart, you will give it up. 5In the blink of an eye, money can disappear, as if it grew wings and flew away like a bird.
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6Don’t eat with selfish people. Control any desire you have for their finest foods. 7They might tell you to eat and drink all you want, but they don’t really mean it. They are the kind of people who are only thinking about the cost. 8And if you eat their food, you will get sick and be embarrassed.
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9Don’t try to teach fools. They will make fun of your wise words.
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10Never move an old property line, and don’t take land that belongs to orphans. 11The Lord will be against you. He is powerful and protects orphans.
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12Listen to your teacher and learn all you can.
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13Always correct children when they need it. If you spank them, it will not kill them. 14In fact, you might save their lives.
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15My son, it makes me happy when you make a wise decision. 16It makes me feel good inside when you say the right things.
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17Never envy evil people, but always respect the Lord. 18This will give you something to hope for that will not disappoint you.
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19So listen, my son, and be wise. Always be careful to follow the right path. 20Don’t make friends with people who drink too much wine and eat too much food. 21Those who eat and drink too much become poor. They sleep too much and end up wearing rags.
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22Listen to your father. Without him, you would never have been born. Respect your mother, even when she is old. 23Truth, wisdom, learning, and understanding are worth paying money for. They are worth far too much to ever sell. 24The father of a good person is very happy. A wise child brings him joy. 25Make both of your parents happy. Give your mother that same joy.
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26My son, listen closely to what I am saying. Let my life be your example. 27Prostitutes and bad women are a trap. They are like a deep well that you cannot escape. 28A bad woman waits for you like a thief, and she causes many men to be unfaithful to their wives.
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29-30Who gets into fights and arguments? Who gets hurt for no reason and has red, bloodshot eyes? People who stay out too late drinking wine, staring into their strong drinks.
31So be careful with wine. It is pretty and red as it sparkles in the cup. And it goes down so smoothly when you drink it. 32But in the end, it will bite like a snake.
33Wine will cause you to see strange things and to say things that make no sense. 34When you lie down, you will think you are on a rough sea and feel like you are at the top of the mast. 35You will say, “They hit me, but I never felt it. They beat me, but I don’t remember it. Now I can’t wake up. I need another drink.”
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