Home Master Index
←Prev   Proverbs 23 as rendered by/in  Next→ 


23:1  When you sit down to dine with a ruler, take careful note of what is before you.
23:2  Control yourself if you are given to overindulgence.
23:3  Do not yearn for the ruler’s delicacies, for they are deceptive food.
23:4  Do not wear yourself out in the pursuit of wealth, and cease even to think about it.
23:5  When you fix your gaze upon it, it is gone before you realize it. For it suddenly sprouts wings and flies up to the sky like an eagle.
23:6  Do not dine with a stingy man or hanker for his delicacies.
23:7  For, like a hair, they will stick in your throat. “Eat and drink,” he will say to you, but he does not mean it in his heart.
23:8  You will vomit up the little you have eaten and find that your compliments have been wasted.
23:9  Do not waste your words on a fool who will only despise the wisdom of your comments.
23:10  Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the lands of orphans.
23:11  For their redeemer is powerful, and he will take up their cause against you.
23:12  Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
23:13  Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
23:14  Rather, if you beat him with a rod, you will save him from the netherworld.
23:15  My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad.
23:16  Also my innermost being will rejoice when your lips utter what is right.
23:17  Do not allow your heart to envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord;
23:18  there truly is a future for you, and your hope will not be cut short.
23:19  Listen, my son, and be wise as you direct your heart along the right path.
23:20  Do not consort with drunkards or be one of those who gorge themselves with meat.
23:21  For the drunkard and the glutton will become impoverished, and stupor will clothe them in rags.
23:22  Listen to your father who begot you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23:23  Buy truth and do not sell it; this is wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
23:24  The father of a good man will rejoice; he who begets a wise son will delight in him.
23:25  May your father and mother be glad; may the one who bore you exult.
23:26  My son, pay attention to me and let your eyes delight in my ways.
23:27  For a prostitute is a deep well, and an adulteress is a narrow pit.
23:28  Such a woman lies in wait like a robber, and many are the men she deludes.
23:29  Who endures misery? Who endures remorse? Who has strife? Who has anxiety? Who becomes bruised without knowing the reason? Who has blackened eyes?
23:30  Those who linger over their wine too long, those who sample blended wines.
23:31  Do not note how red the wine is, how it sparkles in the cup, and how smoothly it goes down.
23:32  For in the end its bite is like that of a serpent or that of a poisonous viper.
23:33  Then your eyes will behold strange sights, and your heart will utter distorted words.
23:34  You will become like one sleeping at sea or clinging to the top of the mast.
23:35  You will say, “They struck me, but I was not hurt. They beat me, but I did not feel it. When will I awaken, so that I can seek another drink?”