Proverbs 23:12-23

English Standard Version

¹²Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
¹³Do not withhold ^(A)discipline from a child;
    ^(B)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴If you strike him with the rod,
    you will ^(C)save his soul from Sheol.
¹⁵^(D)My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
¹⁶My ^(E)inmost being^[a] will exult
    when your lips speak ^(F)what is right.
¹⁷Let not your heart ^(G)envy sinners,
    but continue in ^(H)the fear of the Lord all the day.
¹⁸Surely ^(I)there is a future,
    and your ^(J)hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and ^(K)be wise,
    and ^(L)direct your heart in the way.
²⁰Be not among ^(M)drunkards^[b]
    or among ^(N)gluttonous eaters of meat,
²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and ^(O)slumber will clothe them with rags.

²²^(P)Listen to your father who gave you life,
^(Q)and do not despise your mother when she is old.
²³^(R)Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.