1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, look carefully at what’s in front of you.2Put a knife to your throat if you like to eat too much.3Don’t long for his fancy food. It can fool you.
Saying 8
4Don’t wear yourself out to get rich. Don’t trust how wise you think you are.5When you take even a quick look at riches, they are gone. They grow wings and fly away into the sky like an eagle.
Saying 9
6Don’t eat the food of anyone who doesn’t want to share it. Don’t long for his fancy food.7He is the kind of person who is always thinking about how much it costs. ‘Eat and drink,’ he says to you. But he doesn’t mean it.8You will throw up what little you have eaten. You will have wasted your words of praise.9Don’t speak to foolish people. They will laugh at your wise words.
Saying 10 Saying 11
10Don’t move old boundary stones. Don’t try to take over the fields of children whose fathers have died.11That’s because the God who guards them is strong. He will stand up for them in court against you.12Apply your heart to what you are taught. Listen carefully to words of knowledge.
Saying 12 Saying 13
13Don’t hold back correction from a child. If you correct them, they won’t die.14So correct them. Then you will save them from death.
Saying 14
15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be very glad.16Deep down inside, I will be happy when you say what is right.
Saying 15
17Do not long for what sinners have. But always show great respect for the LORD.18There really is hope for you in days to come. So your hope will not be cut off.
Saying 16
19My son, listen and be wise. Set your heart on the right path.20Don’t join those who drink too much wine. Don’t join those who stuff themselves with meat.21Those who drink or eat too much will become poor. If they sleep too much, they’ll have to wear rags.
Saying 17
22Listen to your father, who gave you life. Don’t hate your mother when she is old.23Buy the truth and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, instruction and understanding as well.24The father of a godly child is very happy. A man who has a wise son is glad.25May your father and mother be glad. May the woman who gave birth to you be joyful.
Saying 18
26My son, give me your heart. May you be happy living the way you see me live.27An unfaithful wife is like a deep pit. A wife who commits adultery is like a narrow well.28She hides and waits like a thief. She causes many men to sin.
Saying 19
29Who has trouble? Who has sorrow? Who argues? Who has problems? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes?30Those who spend too much time with wine. Or those who like to taste wine mixed with spices.31Don’t look at wine when it is red. Don’t look at it when it bubbles in the cup. And don’t look at it when it goes down smoothly.32In the end it bites like a snake. It bites like a poisonous snake.33Your eyes will see strange sights. Your mind will imagine weird things.34You will feel like someone sleeping on the ocean. You will think you are lying among the ropes in a boat.35‘They hit me,’ you will say. ‘But I’m not hurt! They beat me. But I don’t feel it! When will I wake up so I can find another drink?’
Proverbs 23
English Standard Version
1When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what[1] is before you,2and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.3Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. (Pr 23:6)4Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. (Pr 3:5; Pr 3:7; Pr 15:27; Pr 26:12; Pr 28:20; Isa 5:21; Mt 6:19; Ro 12:16; 1Ti 6:9; Heb 13:5)5When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. (Pr 27:24)6Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;[2] do not desire his delicacies, (De 15:9; Ps 141:4; Pr 23:3; Pr 28:22)7for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[3] “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. (Ps 12:2)8You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.10Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, (Pr 22:28)11for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you. (Ex 6:6; Job 19:25; Pr 22:23)12Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.13Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. (Pr 13:24; Pr 19:18)14If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. (1Co 5:5)15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. (Pr 23:24; Pr 29:3)16My inmost being[4] will exult when your lips speak what is right. (Ps 7:9; Ps 73:21; Pr 8:6)17Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. (Ps 37:1; Pr 28:14)18Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. (Ps 9:18; Pr 24:14; Pr 24:20)19Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. (Pr 6:6; Pr 9:6)20Be not among drunkards[5] or among gluttonous eaters of meat, (Pr 23:29; Pr 28:7; Isa 5:11; Isa 5:22; Mt 24:49; Lu 21:34; Ro 13:13; Eph 5:18)21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags. (Pr 6:10)22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. (Pr 1:8; Pr 30:17)23Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. (Pr 4:5; Pr 4:7; Pr 18:15; Mt 13:44)24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. (Pr 23:15; Pr 29:3)25Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. (Pr 17:25; Pr 23:24)26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe[6] my ways.27For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress[7] is a narrow well. (Ps 55:23; Pr 2:16; Pr 22:14)28She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind. (Pr 7:12; Ec 7:26)29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? (Ge 49:12; Pr 23:20; Pr 23:35)30Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. (Ps 75:8; Pr 9:2; Pr 9:5; Isa 5:11; Isa 5:22; Isa 65:11)31Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.32In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. (Job 20:16)33Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. (Pr 2:12)34You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.[8]35“They struck me,” you will say,[9] “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.” (Pr 23:29; Isa 56:12; Jer 5:3)