Proverbs 23

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Proverbs 23 – New International Version (NIV)

Saying 7

  1. When you sit to dine with a ruler, note well what[a] is before you,
  2. and put a knife to your throat if you are given to gluttony.
  3. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

  1. Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness.
  2. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle.

Saying 9

  1. Do not eat the food of a begrudging host, do not crave his delicacies;
  2. for he is the kind of person who is always thinking about the cost.[b] “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
  3. You will vomit up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your compliments.

Saying 10

  1. Do not speak to fools, for they will scorn your prudent words.

Saying 11

  1. Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
  2. for their Defender is strong; he will take up their case against you.

Saying 12

  1. Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

Saying 13

  1. Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.
  2. Punish them with the rod and save them from death.

Saying 14

  1. My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad indeed;
  2. my inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

Saying 15

  1. Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.
  2. There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

  1. Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path:
  2. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
  3. for drunkards and gluttons become poor, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

Saying 17

  1. Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
  2. Buy the truth and do not sell it— wisdom, instruction and insight as well.
  3. The father of a righteous child has great joy; a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.
  4. May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be joyful!

Saying 18

  1. My son, give me your heart and let your eyes delight in my ways,
  2. for an adulterous woman is a deep pit, and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
  3. Like a bandit she lies in wait and multiplies the unfaithful among men.

Saying 19

  1. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
  2. Those who linger over wine, who go to sample bowls of mixed wine.
  3. Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly!
  4. In the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
  5. Your eyes will see strange sights, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
  6. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas, lying on top of the rigging.
  7. “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?”

Footnotes

a. Proverbs 23:1 Or who
b. Proverbs 23:7 Or for as he thinks within himself, / so he is; or for as he puts on a feast, / so he is

Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Proverbs 23 – King James Version (KJV)

  1. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently what is before thee:
  2. And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite.
  3. Be not desirous of his dainties: For they are deceitful meat.
  4. Labour not to be rich: Cease from thine own wisdom.
  5. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
  6. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainty meats:
  7. For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.
  8. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words.
  9. Speak not in the ears of a fool: For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
  10. Remove not the old landmark; And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
  11. For their redeemer is mighty; He shall plead their cause with thee.
  12. Apply thine heart unto instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.
  13. Withhold not correction from the child: For if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
  14. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from hell.
  15. My son, if thine heart be wise, My heart shall rejoice, even mine.
  16. Yea, my reins shall rejoice, When thy lips speak right things.
  17. Let not thine heart envy sinners: But be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
  18. For surely there is an end; And thine expectation shall not be cut off.
  19. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thine heart in the way.
  20. Be not among winebibbers; Among riotous eaters of flesh:
  21. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
  22. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.
  23. Buy the truth, and sell it not; Also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
  24. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: And he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
  25. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, And she that bare thee shall rejoice.
  26. My son, give me thine heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways.
  27. For a whore is a deep ditch; And a strange woman is a narrow pit.
  28. She also lieth in wait as for a prey, And increaseth the transgressors among men.
  29. Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? Who hath babbling? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
  30. They that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek mixed wine.
  31. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it giveth his colour in the cup, When it moveth itself aright.
  32. At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.
  33. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, And thine heart shall utter perverse things.
  34. Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
  35. They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; They have beaten me, and I felt it not: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.