Proverbs 23
23
1When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what#23:1 Or who is before you,
2and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3 # ver. 6 Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4 # ch. 15:27; 28:20; Matt. 6:19; 1 Tim. 6:9, 10; Heb. 13:5 Do not toil to acquire wealth;
# [ch. 3:5, 7; 26:12; Isa. 5:21; Rom. 12:16] be discerning enough to desist.
5When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
# ch. 27:24 for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6 # [Ps. 141:4] Do not eat the bread of a man who is #ch. 28:22; Deut. 15:9 stingy;#23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil
# ver. 3 do not desire his delicacies,
7for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.#23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his #[Ps. 12:2]heart is not with you.
8You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10 # See ch. 22:28 Do not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11for their #[Ex. 6:6]; See Job 19:25 Redeemer is strong;
he will #See ch. 22:23plead their cause against you.
12Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13Do not withhold #See ch. 13:24 discipline from a child;
# [ch. 19:18] if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14If you strike him with the rod,
you will #[1 Cor. 5:5]save his soul from Sheol.
15 # ver. 24, 25; See ch. 29:3 My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16My #Ps. 7:9; 73:21 inmost being#23:16 Hebrew My kidneys will exult
when your lips speak #[ch. 8:6]what is right.
17Let not your heart #See Ps. 37:1 envy sinners,
but continue in #[ch. 28:14]the fear of the Lord all the day.
18Surely #ch. 24:14, 20 there is a future,
and your #Ps. 9:18hope will not be cut off.
19Hear, my son, and #ch. 6:6 be wise,
and #[ch. 9:6]direct your heart in the way.
20Be not among #[ver. 29, 30; Isa. 5:11, 22; Matt. 24:49; Luke 21:34; Rom. 13:13; Eph. 5:18] drunkards#23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine
or among #ch. 28:7gluttonous eaters of meat,
21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and #[ch. 6:10, 11]slumber will clothe them with rags.
22 # See ch. 1:8 Listen to your father who gave you life,
# [ch. 30:17] and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 # [ch. 4:5, 7; 18:15; Matt. 13:44] Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 # ver. 15; See ch. 29:3 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 # [See ver. 24 above] Let your father and mother be glad;
let #ch. 17:25her who bore you rejoice.
26My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe#23:26 Or delight in my ways.
27For a prostitute is #[ch. 22:14] a deep pit;
# See ch. 2:16 an adulteress#23:27 Hebrew a foreign woman is a narrow #Ps. 55:23well.
28 # ch. 7:12; [Eccles. 7:26] She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind.
29 # [ver. 20, 21] Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has #[ver. 35] wounds without cause?
Who has #Gen. 49:12redness of eyes?
30Those who #Isa. 5:11 tarry long over wine;
those who go to try #ch. 9:2, 5; Ps. 75:8; Isa. 5:22; 65:11mixed wine.
31Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32In the end it #Job 20:16bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter #See ch. 2:12perverse things.
34You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.#23:34 Or of the rigging
35“They #Jer. 5:3; [ver. 29] struck me,” you will say,#23:35 Hebrew lacks you will say “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I #Isa. 56:12must have another drink.”
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The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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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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