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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Proverbs 23: CEVDCI
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Contemporary English Version, Second Edition (CEV®)
© 2006 American Bible Society. All rights reserved.
Proverbs 23
23
1When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
consider carefully what#23:1 Or who is before you,
2and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big#23:2 Lit you are the master of an appetite;
3don’t desire his choice food,#Gn 27:4; Pr 23:6; Dn 1:8
for that food is deceptive.
4Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;#Pr 15:27; 28:20; Mt 6:19; 1Tm 6:9–10; Heb 13:5
because you know better, stop!
5As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,#Pr 27:24
for it makes wings for itself
and flies like an eagle to the sky.
6Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,#23:6 Lit eat bread of an evil eye#Dt 15:9; Pr 28:22; Mt 6:23
and don’t desire his choice food,#Pr 23:3
7for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.#23:7 LXX reads it is like someone swallowing a hair in the throat#Mt 6:21; Lk 12:34
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.#Pr 26:24–25
8You will vomit the little you’ve eaten
and waste your pleasant words.
9Don’t speak to#23:9 Lit in the ears of a fool,
for he will despise the insight of your words.#Mt 7:6
10Don’t move an ancient boundary marker,#Pr 22:28
and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11for their Redeemer is strong,#Jr 50:34
and he will champion their cause against you.#Pr 22:22–23
12Apply yourself to discipline
and listen to words of knowledge.
13Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;
if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.#Pr 13:24; 19:18; 22:15
14Punish him with a rod,
and you will rescue his life from Sheol.#1Co 5:5
15My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart will indeed rejoice.#Pr 10:1; 15:20; 23:24–25; 29:3
16My innermost being will celebrate
when your lips say what is right.#Pr 8:6
17Don’t let your heart envy sinners;#Ps 37:1; Pr 24:1,19
instead, always fear the Lord.#Pr 28:14
18For then you will have a future,
and your hope will not be dashed.#Ps 9:18; Pr 10:28; 24:14; Jr 29:11
19Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.
20Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine#Pr 20:1; 23:29–30; Is 5:22; Mt 24:49; Lk 21:34; Rm 13:13; Eph 5:18
or with those who gorge themselves on meat.#Pr 28:7
21For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.#Pr 6:10–11
22Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when#23:22 Or because she is old.#Pr 1:8; 15:20; Eph 6:1
23Buy — and do not sell — truth,
wisdom, instruction, and understanding.#Pr 4:5,7; 16:16; 18:15; Mt 13:44
24The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,
and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.#Pr 10:1; 23:15; 29:3
25Let your father and mother have joy,#Pr 27:11
and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.
26My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
27For a prostitute is a deep pit,#Pr 22:14
and a wayward woman is a narrow well;
28indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber#Pr 6:26; 7:12,22–23; Ec 7:26
and increases the number of unfaithful people.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason?#Pr 23:35
Who has red eyes?
30Those who linger over wine;
those who go looking for mixed wine.#Is 5:11,22
31Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,#Eph 5:18
because it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.#Sg 7:9
32In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.
33Your eyes will see strange things,
and you will say absurd things.#23:33 Or will speak perversities, or inverted things#Is 28:7
34You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.
35“They struck me, but#23:35 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read me,” you will say, “but I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn’t know it!#Pr 23:29; Jr 5:3
When will I wake up?
I’ll look for another drink.”#Is 56:12
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