Mishlei (Pro) 23
23
1When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
think carefully about who is before you.
2If you have a big appetite,
put a knife to your throat!
3Don’t be greedy for his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4Don’t exhaust yourself in pursuit of wealth;
be smart enough to desist.
5If you make your eyes rush at it,
it’s no longer there!
For wealth will surely grow wings,
like an eagle flying off to the sky.
6Don’t eat the food of a stingy man;
don’t be greedy for his delicacies.
7For he is like someone who keeps accounts —
“Eat! Drink!” he says to you,
but he doesn’t really mean it.
8The little you eat you will vomit up,
and your compliments will have been wasted.
9Don’t speak in the ears of a fool,
for he will only despise the common sense in your words.
10Don’t move the ancient boundary stone
or encroach on the land of the fatherless;
11for their Redeemer is strong;
he will take up their fight against you.
12Apply your mind to discipline
and your ears to words of knowledge.
13Don’t withhold discipline from a child —
if you beat him with a stick, he won’t die!
14If you beat him with a stick,
you will save him from Sh’ol.
15My son, if your heart is wise,
then my own heart too is glad;
16my inmost being rejoices
when your lips say what is right.
17Don’t envy sinners, but follow the example
of those who always fear God;
18for then you will have a future;
what you hope for will not be cut off.
19You, my son: listen, be wise,
and set your mind on the right way.
20Don’t be one of those who guzzle wine
or of those who eat meat to excess,
21for both drunkard and glutton will become poor —
drowsiness will clothe them with rags.
22Listen to your father, who gave you life;
and don’t despise your mother when she gets old.
23Buy the truth, don’t sell it,
also wisdom, discipline and discernment.
24A righteous person’s father will be filled with joy;
yes, he whose son is wise will rejoice in him.
25So let your father and mother be glad;
let her who gave you birth rejoice.
26My son, give me your heart;
let your eyes observe my ways.
27A prostitute is a deep ditch,
and a forbidden woman like a narrow well.
28She lies in wait to snatch her prey
and adds to the number of faithless men.
29Who has misery? Who has regret?
Who fights and complains all the time?
Who gets bruised for no good reason?
Who has bloodshot eyes?
30Those who spend their time over wine,
those always trying out mixed drinks.
31Don’t gaze at the red wine
as it gives its color to the cup.
It may glide down smoothly now;
32but in the end, it bites like a serpent —
yes, it strikes like a poisonous snake.
33Your eyes will see peculiar things,
your mind will utter nonsense.
34You will feel as if lying on the waves of the sea
or sprawled on top of the mast —
35“They hit me, but I didn’t feel it!
They beat me up, and I didn’t even know it!
When will I wake up? . . .
I’ll go get another drink.”
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Mishlei (Pro) 23: CJB
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Learn More About Complete Jewish BibleProverbs 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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