Proverbs 23
23
1When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
consider carefully what # Or who is before you,
2and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big # 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
stop giving your attention to it.
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, # 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. # 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 # 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 take up their case 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 beat him with a rod, he will not die. # Pr 13:24; 19:18; 22:15
14Strike 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 cheer
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 never fade. # 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 # 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 stranger is a narrow well;
28indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber # Pr 6:26; 7:12,22-23; Ec 7:26
and increases those among men who are unfaithful.
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
when 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. # 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 # 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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Proverbs 23: HCSB
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Proverbs 23
23
1When you sit to eat with a ruler,
consider diligently what is before you;
2put a knife to your throat
if you are a man given to appetite.
3Don’t be desirous of his dainties,
since they are deceitful food.
4Don’t weary yourself to be rich.
In your wisdom, show restraint.
5Why do you set your eyes on that which is not?
For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
6Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye,
and don’t crave his delicacies,
7for as he thinks about the cost, so he is.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
8You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten
and waste your pleasant words.
9Don’t speak in the ears of a fool,
for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10Don’t move the ancient boundary stone.
Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11for their Defender is strong.
He will plead their case against you.
12Apply your heart to instruction,
and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13Don’t withhold correction from a child.
If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14Punish him with the rod,
and save his soul from Sheol.#23:14 Sheol is the place of the dead.
15My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad, even mine.
16Yes, my heart will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17Don’t let your heart envy sinners,
but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
18Indeed surely there is a future hope,
and your hope will not be cut off.
19Listen, my son, and be wise,
and keep your heart on the right path!
20Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine,
or those who gorge themselves on meat;
21for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor;
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy the truth, and don’t sell it.
Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24The father of the righteous has great joy.
Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25Let your father and your mother be glad!
Let her who bore you rejoice!
26My son, give me your heart;
and let your eyes keep in my ways.
27For a prostitute is a deep pit;
and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28Yes, she lies in wait like a robber,
and increases the unfaithful among men.
29Who has woe?
Who has sorrow?
Who has strife?
Who has complaints?
Who has needless bruises?
Who has bloodshot eyes?
30Those who stay long at the wine;
those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31Don’t look at the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly.
32In the end, it bites like a snake,
and poisons like a viper.
33Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea,
or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
35“They hit me, and I was not hurt!
They beat me, and I don’t feel it!
When will I wake up? I can do it again.
I will look for more.”
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