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Proverbs 23:1-25
Common English Bible
Proverbs 23:1-25
Common English Bible
23 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
carefully consider what is in front of you.
2 Place a knife at your throat
to control your appetite.
3 Don’t long for the ruler’s delicacies;
the food misleads.
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich;
be smart enough to stop.
5 When your eyes fly to wealth
it is gone; it grows wings
like an eagle and flies heavenward.
6 Don’t eat food with stingy people;
don’t long for their delicacies,
7 because they are like a hair in the throat.[a]
They say to you, “Eat and drink!”
but they don’t mean it.
8 You will eat scraps and vomit them out.
You will waste your pleasant words.
9 Don’t speak in the ears of fools,
for they will scorn your insightful words.
10 Don’t remove an ancient boundary marker;
don’t invade the fields of orphans,
11 for their redeemer is strong.
He will bring charges against you.
12 Bring your mind to instruction,
your ear to knowledgeable sayings.
13 Don’t withhold instruction from children;
if you strike them with a rod, they won’t die.
14 Strike them with a rod,
and you will save their lives from the grave.[b]
15 My child, if your heart is wise,
then my heart too will be happy.
16 My inner being will rejoice
when your lips speak with integrity.
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners,
but fear the Lord constantly;
18 then you will have a future,
and your hope won’t be cut off.
19 Listen, my child, and be wise!
Keep your mind straight on the path.
20 Don’t hang out with those who get drunk on wine
or those who eat too much meat,
21 because drunks and gluttons will be impoverished;
their stupor will clothe them in rags.
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life;
don’t despise your elderly mother.
23 Buy truth and don’t sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will be very happy;
the one who gives life to the wise will rejoice.
25 Your father and your mother will rejoice;
she who gave you birth will be happy.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:7 LXX; Heb uncertain
- Proverbs 23:14 Heb Sheol
Proverbs 23:1-25
New International Version
Proverbs 23:1-25
New International Version
Saying 7
23 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,(A)
for that food is deceptive.
Saying 8
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
do not trust your own cleverness.
5 Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone,(B)
for they will surely sprout wings
and fly off to the sky like an eagle.(C)
Saying 9
6 Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,
do not crave his delicacies;(D)
7 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.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten
and will have wasted your compliments.
Saying 10
9 Do not speak to fools,
for they will scorn your prudent words.(E)
Saying 11
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone(F)
or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Defender(G) is strong;(H)
he will take up their case against you.(I)
Saying 12
12 Apply your heart to instruction(J)
and your ears to words of knowledge.
Saying 13
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.
14 Punish them with the rod
and save them from death.(K)
Saying 14
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart will be glad indeed;
16 my inmost being will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.(L)
Saying 15
17 Do not let your heart envy(M) sinners,
but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord.
18 There is surely a future hope for you,
and your hope will not be cut off.(N)
Saying 16
19 Listen, my son,(O) and be wise,
and set your heart on the right path:
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine(P)
or gorge themselves on meat,
21 for drunkards and gluttons become poor,(Q)
and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Saying 17
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.(R)
23 Buy the truth and do not sell it—
wisdom, instruction and insight as well.(S)
24 The father of a righteous child has great joy;
a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.(T)
25 May your father and mother rejoice;
may she who gave you birth be joyful!(U)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:1 Or who
- Proverbs 23:7 Or for as he thinks within himself, / so he is; or for as he puts on a feast, / so he is
Common English Bible (CEB)
Copyright © 2011 by Common English Bible
New International Version (NIV) 
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NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.