Sprüche 23 | New International Reader’s Version

Saying 7

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, look carefully at what’s in front of you. 2 Put a knife to your throat if you like to eat too much. 3 Don’t long for his fancy food. It can fool you.

Saying 8

4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich. Don’t trust how wise you think you are. 5 When 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

6 Don’t eat the food of anyone who doesn’t want to share it. Don’t long for his fancy food. 7 He 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. 8 You will throw up what little you have eaten. You will have wasted your words of praise. 9 Don’t speak to foolish people. They will laugh at your wise words.

Saying 10 Saying 11

10 Don’t move old boundary stones. Don’t try to take over the fields of children whose fathers have died. 11 That’s because the God who guards them is strong. He will stand up for them in court against you. 12 Apply your heart to what you are taught. Listen carefully to words of knowledge.

Saying 12 Saying 13

13 Don’t hold back correction from a child. If you correct them, they won’t die. 14 So correct them. Then you will save them from death.

Saying 14

15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be very glad. 16 Deep down inside, I will be happy when you say what is right.

Saying 15

17 Do not long for what sinners have. But always show great respect for the LORD. 18 There really is hope for you in days to come. So your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

19 My son, listen and be wise. Set your heart on the right path. 20 Don’t join those who drink too much wine. Don’t join those who stuff themselves with meat. 21 Those who drink or eat too much will become poor. If they sleep too much, they’ll have to wear rags.

Saying 17

22 Listen to your father, who gave you life. Don’t hate your mother when she is old. 23 Buy the truth and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, instruction and understanding as well. 24 The father of a godly child is very happy. A man who has a wise son is glad. 25 May your father and mother be glad. May the woman who gave birth to you be joyful.

Saying 18

26 My son, give me your heart. May you be happy living the way you see me live. 27 An unfaithful wife is like a deep pit. A wife who commits adultery is like a narrow well. 28 She hides and waits like a thief. She causes many men to sin.

Saying 19

29 Who has trouble? Who has sorrow? Who argues? Who has problems? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has red eyes? 30 Those who spend too much time with wine. Or those who like to taste wine mixed with spices. 31 Don’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. 32 In the end it bites like a snake. It bites like a poisonous snake. 33 Your eyes will see strange sights. Your mind will imagine weird things. 34 You 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?’

English Standard Version

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what* is before you, 2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. 3 Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. 4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. 5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. 6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;* do not desire his delicacies, 7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.* “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words. 9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words. 10 Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, 11 for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you. 12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. 13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. 14 If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. 15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. 16 My inmost being* will exult when your lips speak what is right. 17 Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. 18 Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. 19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. 20 Be not among drunkards* or among gluttonous eaters of meat, 21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags. 22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. 23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. 24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. 25 Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. 26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe* my ways. 27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress* is a narrow well. 28 She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind. 29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? 30 Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. 31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. 32 In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. 33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. 34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast.* 35 “They struck me,” you will say,* “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.”

Sprüche 23 | New International Reader’s Version English Standard Version