Proverbs 23

Chapter 23

On Life and Conduct

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

Consider carefully ¹what is before you,

²And put a knife to your throat

If you are a ^aman of great appetite.

³Do not ^adesire his delicacies,

For it is deceptive food.

^4aDo not weary yourself to gain wealth,

^bCease from your ¹consideration of it.

⁵¹When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.

For ^awealth certainly makes itself wings

Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

^6aDo not eat the bread of ¹a ^bselfish man,

Or desire his delicacies;

⁷For as he ¹thinks within himself, so he is.

He says to you, “Eat and drink!”

But ^ahis heart is not with you.

⁸You will ^avomit up ¹the morsel you have eaten,

And waste your ²compliments.

^9aDo not speak in the ¹hearing of a fool,

For he will ^bdespise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary

Or ^ago into the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹For their ^aRedeemer is strong;

^bHe will plead their case against you.

¹²Apply your heart to discipline

And your ears to words of knowledge.

^13aDo not hold back discipline from the child,

Although you ¹strike him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴You shall ¹strike him with the rod

And ^arescue his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵My son, if your heart is ^awise,

My own heart also will be glad;

¹⁶And my ¹inmost being will rejoice

When your lips speak ^awhat is right.

^17aDo not let your heart envy sinners,

But live in the ^1bfear of the Lord ²always.

¹⁸Surely there is a ^1afuture,

And your ^bhope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Listen, my son, and ^abe wise,

And ^bdirect your heart in the way.

²⁰Do not be with ^aheavy drinkers of wine,

Or with ^bgluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹For the ^aheavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,

And ^bdrowsiness will clothe one with rags.

^22aListen to your father who begot you,

And ^bdo not despise your mother when she is old.

^23aBuy truth, and do not sell it,

Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,

And ^ahe who sires a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your ^afather and your mother be glad,

And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

^26aGive me your heart, my son,

And let your eyes ^1bdelight in my ways.

²⁷For a harlot is a ^adeep pit

And an ^1badulterous woman is a narrow well.

²⁸Surely she ^alurks as a robber,

And increases the ¹faithless among men.

²⁹Who has ^awoe? Who has sorrow?

Who has contentions? Who has complaining?

Who has wounds without cause?

Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰Those who ^alinger long over wine,

Those who go to ¹taste ^bmixed wine.

³¹Do not look on the wine when it is red,

When it ¹sparkles in the cup,

When it ^agoes down smoothly;

³²At the last it ^abites like a serpent

And stings like a ^bviper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things

And your ¹mind will ^autter perverse things.

³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the ¹middle of the sea,

Or like one who lies down on the top of a ²mast.

³⁵“They ^astruck me, but I did not become ¹ill;

They beat me, but I did not know it.

When shall I awake?

I will ^bseek ²another drink.”