Proverbs 23
Proverbs 23
When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you; Verse 2. put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite. Verse 3. Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food. Verse 4. Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint. Verse 5. Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky. Verse 6. Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies, Verse 7. for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. Verse 8. You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words. Verse 9. Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words. Verse 10. Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless, Verse 11. for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you. Verse 12. Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge. Verse 13. Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die. Verse 14. Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol. Verse 15. My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine. Verse 16. Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. Verse 17. Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear Yahweh all day long. Verse 18. Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off. Verse 19. Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path! Verse 20. Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat; Verse 21. for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags. Verse 22. Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old. Verse 23. Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding. Verse 24. The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him. Verse 25. Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice! Verse 26. My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways. Verse 27. For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well. Verse 28. Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men. Verse 29. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes? Verse 30. Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine. Verse 31. Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly. Verse 32. In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper. Verse 33. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things. Verse 34. Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging: Verse 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.”