Proverbs 23
23
The Sixth Saying
1When you sit down to eat with someone important, keep in mind who he is.#23.1 keep… is; or notice carefully what is before you. 2If you have a big appetite, restrain yourself. 3Don't be greedy for the fine food he serves; he may be trying to trick you.
The Seventh Saying
4Be wise enough not to wear yourself out trying to get rich. 5Your money can be gone in a flash, as if it had grown wings and flown away like an eagle.
The Eighth Saying
6Don't eat at the table of a stingy person or be greedy for the fine food he serves. 7“Come on and have some more,” he says, but he doesn't mean it. What he thinks is what he really is. 8You will vomit up what you have eaten, and all your flattery will be wasted.
The Ninth Saying
9Don't try to talk sense to a fool; he can't appreciate it.
The Tenth Saying
10Never move an old boundary mark or take over land owned by orphans. 11The LORD is their powerful defender, and he will argue their case against you.
The Eleventh Saying
12Pay attention to your teacher and learn all you can.
The Twelfth Saying
13Don't hesitate to discipline children. A good spanking won't kill them. 14As a matter of fact, it may save their lives.
The Thirteenth Saying
15Son, if you become wise, I will be very happy. 16I will be proud when I hear you speaking words of wisdom.
The Fourteenth Saying
17Don't be envious of sinful people; let reverence for the LORD be the concern of your life. 18If it is, you have a bright future.
The Fifteenth Saying
19Listen, my child, be wise and give serious thought to the way you live. 20Don't associate with people who drink too much wine or stuff themselves with food. 21Drunkards and gluttons will be reduced to poverty. If all you do is eat and sleep, you will soon be wearing rags.
The Sixteenth Saying
22Listen to your father; without him you would not exist. When your mother is old, show her your appreciation.
23Truth, wisdom, learning, and good sense — these are worth paying for, but too valuable for you to sell.
24A righteous man's father has good reason to be happy. You can take pride in a wise son.
25Make your father and mother proud of you; give your mother that happiness.
The Seventeenth Saying
26Pay close attention, son, and let my life be your example. 27Prostitutes and immoral women are a deadly trap. 28They wait for you like robbers and cause many men to be unfaithful.
The Eighteenth Saying
29-30Show me someone who drinks too much, who has to try out some new drink, and I will show you someone miserable and sorry for himself, always causing trouble and always complaining. His eyes are bloodshot, and he has bruises that could have been avoided. 31Don't let wine tempt you, even though it is rich red, though it sparkles in the cup, and it goes down smoothly. 32The next morning you will feel as if you had been bitten by a poisonous snake. 33Weird sights will appear before your eyes, and you will not be able to think or speak clearly. 34You will feel as if you were out on the ocean, sea-sick, swinging high up in the rigging of a tossing ship. 35“I must have been hit,” you will say; “I must have been beaten up, but I don't remember it. Why can't I wake up? I need another drink.”
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Proverbs 23: GNBDC
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Good News Bible. Scripture taken from the Good News Bible (r) (Today's English Version Second Edition, UK/British Edition). Copyright © 1992 British & Foreign Bible Society. Used by permission.
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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