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Proverbs 23:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Proverbs 23:1-3
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 23
1 [a]When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
mark well the one who is before you;
2 Stick the knife in your gullet[b]
if you have a ravenous appetite.
3 Do not desire his delicacies;
it is food that deceives.
Footnotes
- 23:1–9 Four admonitions for someone aspiring to be a sage: be careful about advancing your career by socializing with the great (vv. 1–3); avoid greed (vv. 4–5); do not force yourself on an unwilling host (vv. 6–8); do not waste your wisdom on those who cannot profit from it (v. 9).
- 23:2 Stick the knife in your gullet: a metaphor for self-restraint. The usual translation, “Put a knife to your throat,” is misleading, for in English it is a death threat. The exhortation is humorously exaggerated: stick the table-knife in your own gullet rather than take too much food. It assumes that the young courtier is unused to opulent banquets and will be tempted to overindulgence.
Proverbs 23:1-3
New International Version
Proverbs 23:1-3
New International Version
Proverbs 23:1-3
King James Version
Proverbs 23:1-3
King James Version
23 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.
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New American Bible (Revised Edition) (NABRE)
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