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
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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Holy Bible, New Living Translation copyright 1996, 2004, 2007, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
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