Proverbs 23

23When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,

Consider diligently what is before thee:

²And put a knife to thy throat,

If thou be a man ^agiven to ^bappetite.

^3cBe not desirous of his ^cddainties:

For they are deceitful meat.

^4eLabour not to be rich:

Cease from thine own ^fwisdom.

^5†Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?

For ^griches certainly make themselves wings;

They fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

^6hEat thou not the bread of him that hath ⁱan evil eye,

^cNeither desire thou his ^cddainty meats:

⁷For as he thinketh in his ^bheart, so is he:

Eat and drink, saith he to thee;

^jBut his heart is not with thee.

⁸The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou ^kvomit up,

And ^llose thy sweet words.

^9lSpeak not in the ears of a fool:

For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

^10mRemove not the old ^||landmark;

And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

¹¹For their ⁿredeemer is mighty;

He ^oshall plead their cause with thee.

¹²Apply thine heart unto ^pinstruction,

And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

¹³Withhold not ^pcorrection from the ^qchild:

For if thou beatest him with the rod, ^rhe shall not die.

¹⁴Thou shalt beat him with the rod,

And shalt ^sdeliver his soul from hell.

^15tMy son, if thine heart be wise,

My heart shall rejoice, ^||ueven mine.

¹⁶Yea, ^xmy reins shall rejoice,

When thy lips speak ^yright things.

¹⁷Let not thine heart ^zenvy sinners:

But be thou in ^athe fear of the Lord all the day long.

¹⁸For surely ^bthere is an ^||cend;

^bAnd thine ^dexpectation shall not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear thou, my son, and ^ebe wise,

And ^fguide thine ^gheart in the way.

²⁰Be not among ^hiwinebibbers;

Among ^ijriotous eaters ^†of flesh:

²¹For the ⁱdrunkard and the ^ijglutton shall come to poverty:

And ^kdrowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

^22lHearken unto thy father that begat thee,

And despise not thy mother when she is old.

^23mBuy the truth, and sell it not;

Also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

²⁴ⁿThe father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice:

And he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

²⁵Thy father and thy mother shall be glad,

And ^oshe that bare thee shall rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me thine heart,

And let thine eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a whore is ^pa deep ditch;

And ^qa strange woman is a narrow ^rpit.

^28sShe also lieth in wait ^||as for a prey,

And increaseth the transgressors among men.

^29tWho hath woe? who hath sorrow?

Who hath contentions? who hath babbling?

Who hath ^uwounds without cause?

Who hath ^vredness of eyes?

^30tThey that ^wtarry long at the wine;

They that go to seek ^xmixed wine.

³¹Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,

When it giveth his colour in the cup,

When it ^ymoveth itself ^yzaright.

^32aAt the last it ^bbiteth like a serpent,

And stingeth like ^||an ^cadder.

³³Thine eyes shall behold ^dstrange women,

And thine heart shall utter ^eperverse things.

³⁴Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down ^†fin the midst of the sea,

Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

³⁵They have ^gstricken me, ^hshalt thou say, and I ^gwas not sick;

They have beaten me, and ^†iI felt it not:

When shall I awake?

^kI will seek it yet again.