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.”
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version® (ESV®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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