Proverbs 22:17-23:11
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
Sayings of the Wise
17 The words of the wise:
Incline your ear and hear my words[a]
and apply your mind to my teaching,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 So that your trust may be in the Lord,
I have made them known to you today, yes, to you.(A)
20 Have I not written for you thirty[b] sayings
of admonition and knowledge,(B)
21 to show you what is right and true,
so that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?(C)
22 Do not rob the poor because they are poor
or crush the afflicted at the gate,(D)
23 for the Lord pleads their cause
and despoils of life those who despoil them.(E)
24 Make no friends with those given to anger,
and do not associate with hotheads,
25 lest you learn their ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Do not be one of those who give pledges,
who become surety for debts.(F)
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
28 Do not remove the ancient landmark
that your ancestors set up.(G)
29 Do you see those who are skillful in their work?
They will serve kings;
they will not serve common people.(H)
23 When you sit down to eat with an official,
observe carefully what[c] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
3 Do not desire an official’s[d] delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.(I)
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.(J)
5 When your eyes light upon it, it is gone,
for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
do not desire their delicacies,(K)
7 for like a hair in the throat, so are they.[e]
“Eat and drink!” they say to you,
but they do not mean it.(L)
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.(M)
10 Do not remove an ancient landmark
or encroach on the fields of orphans,(N)
11 for their vindicator[f] is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.(O)
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.