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 have a big appetite.
3Do not desire the ruler's#23.3 Heb his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.
5When your eyes light upon it, it is gone;
for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
do not desire their delicacies;
7for like a hair in the throat, so are they.#23.7 Meaning of Heb uncertain
“Eat and drink!” they say to you;
but they do not mean it.
8You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.
10Do not remove an ancient landmark
or encroach on the fields of orphans,
11for their redeemer is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.
12Apply your mind to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13Do not withhold discipline from your children;
if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.
14If you beat them with the rod,
you will save their lives from Sheol.
15My child, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16My soul will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but always continue in the fear of the Lord.
18Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
19Hear, my child, and be wise,
and direct your mind in the way.
20Do not be among winebibbers,
or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.
22Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
25Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.
26My child, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe#23.26 Another reading is delight in my ways.
27For a prostitute is a deep pit;
an adulteress#23.27 Heb an alien woman is a narrow well.
28She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the number of the faithless.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30Those who linger late over wine,
those who keep trying mixed wines.
31Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32At the last it bites like a serpent,
and stings like an adder.
33Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind utter perverse 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 Meaning of Heb uncertain
35“They struck me,” you will say,#23.35 Gk Syr Vg Tg: Heb lacks you will say “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink.”
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Proverbs 23: NRSV
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New Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright © 1989 Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the USA. Used by permission. All rights reserved.