Proverbs 23
Expanded Bible
23 ·If [or When] you sit down to eat with a ruler,
notice ·the food that [L what] is in front of you.
2 ·Control yourself [L Place a knife at your throat]
·if you have a big [or to control your] appetite.
3 Don’t ·be greedy [long] for his fine foods,
because that food might be ·a trick [false; deceptive].
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich;
be wise enough to ·control [stop] yourself.
5 ·Wealth can vanish in the wink of an eye [L Your eye can fly to it and it will be gone].
It can seem to grow wings
and fly away like an eagle.
6 Don’t eat the food of ·selfish [stingy; L evil eye] people;
don’t ·be greedy [long] for their ·fine foods [delicacies].
7 ·Selfish people are always worrying
about how much the food costs [L They calculate in their minds; or They are like a hair in the throat].
They tell you, “Eat and drink,”
but ·they don’t really mean it [L their heart is not with you].
8 You will ·throw up [vomit] the ·little [L crust] you have eaten,
and you will have wasted your ·kind [pleasant] words.
9 Don’t speak in the ears of fools [Matt. 7:6];
they will only ·ignore [despise] your ·wise [insightful] words.
10 Don’t move an ·old stone that marks a border [ancient boundary marker; 22:28],
and don’t ·take [invade] fields that belong to orphans.
11 God, their ·defender [redeemer], is strong;
he will ·take their side [bring charges; make accusations] against you.
12 ·Remember what you are taught [L Bring your heart to discipline/instruction],
·and listen carefully [L your ear] to words of knowledge.
13 Don’t ·fail to punish [L withhold instruction/discipline from] children.
If you ·spank them [L strike them with a rod], they won’t die.
14 If you ·spank them [L strike them with a rod],
you will save ·them from death [L their lives from Sheol/the grave].
15 My child, if ·you are [L your heart is] wise,
then ·I [L my heart] will be happy.
16 ·I will be so pleased [L My inmost being will rejoice]
if you speak ·what is right [with integrity].
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners [Ps. 73],
but always ·respect [fear; 1:7] the Lord.
18 Then you will have a future,
and your ·wishes [hopes] will ·come true [L not be cut off].
19 Listen, my child, and be wise.
Keep your ·mind on what is right [L heart straight on the path].
20 Don’t ·drink too much [get drunk on] wine
or ·eat too much food [L stuff yourself with meat].
21 Those who ·drink [get drunk] and ·eat too much [stuff themselves] ·become poor [lose possessions].
They ·sleep too much [or are in a stupor] and end up wearing rags.
22 Listen to your father, who ·gave you life [begot you],
and do not ·forget [despise] your mother when she is old.
23 ·Learn [L Buy; Acquire] the truth and never ·reject [L sell] it.
·Get [Buy; Acquire] wisdom, ·self-control [instruction; discipline], and understanding.
24 The father of a ·good [righteous] child is very happy;
parents who have wise children are glad because of them.
25 Make your father and mother happy;
give ·your mother [L the one who bore you] a reason to be glad.
26 My son, ·pay attention [L give your heart] to me,
and ·watch closely what I do [let your eyes watch/or delight in my path].
27 A prostitute is as dangerous as a deep pit,
and an ·unfaithful wife [L foreign woman] is like a narrow well.
28 They ambush you like robbers
and cause many men to be unfaithful to their wives.
29 Who ·has trouble [L cries “Woe!”]? Who ·has pain [L cries “Alas!”]?
Who ·fights [has conflicts]? Who complains?
Who has unnecessary bruises?
Who has ·bloodshot [glazed] eyes?
30 It is people who ·drink too much [L linger over] wine,
who ·try out all different kinds of strong drinks [L go in search of the mixing vessel].
31 Don’t stare at the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly.
32 Later it bites like a snake
with poison ·in its fangs [L like a viper].
33 Your eyes will see strange sights,
and your ·mind will be confused [L heart will speak perverse things].
34 You will ·feel dizzy as if you’re in a storm on [L be like one who lies down in the heart of] the ocean,
as if you’re on top of a ship’s ·sails [mast].
35 You will think, “They hit me, but ·I’m not hurt [L I feel no pain].
They beat me up, but I don’t ·remember [know] it.
I wish I could wake up.
Then I would ·get another drink [L look for it].”
Proverbs 23
Amplified Bible
On Life and Conduct
23 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully what is [set] before you;
2
For you will put a knife to your throat
If you are a man of great appetite.
3
Do not desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food [offered to you with questionable motives].
4
Do not weary yourself [with the overwhelming desire] to gain wealth;
Cease from your own understanding of it.(A)
5
When you set your eyes on wealth, it is [suddenly] gone.
For wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies to the heavens.
6
Do not eat the bread of a selfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;
7
For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior—one who manipulates].
He says to you, “Eat and drink,”
Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost].
8
The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up,
And you will waste your compliments.
9
Do not speak in the ears of a fool,
For he will despise the [godly] wisdom of your words.(B)
10
Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property]
And do not go into the fields of the fatherless [to take what is theirs],(C)
11
For their Redeemer is strong and mighty;
He will plead their case against you.
12
Apply your heart to discipline
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13
Do not withhold discipline from the child;
If you [a]swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.
14
You shall [b]swat him with the reed-like rod
And rescue his life from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
15
My son, if your heart is wise,
My heart will also be glad;
16
Yes, my heart will rejoice
When your lips speak right things.
17
Do not let your heart envy sinners [who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation],
But [continue to] live in the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the Lord day by day.
18
Surely there is a future [and a reward],
And your hope and expectation will not be cut off.
19
Listen, my son, and be wise,
And direct your heart in the way [of the Lord].
20
Do not associate with heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with gluttonous eaters of meat,(D)
21
For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And the drowsiness [of overindulgence] will clothe one with rags.
22
Listen to your father, who sired you,
And do not despise your mother when she is old.
23
[c]Buy truth, and do not sell it;
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And he who sires a wise child will have joy in him.
25
Let your father and your mother be glad,
And let her who gave birth to you rejoice [in your wise and godly choices].
26
My son, give me your heart
And let your eyes delight in my ways,
27
For a prostitute is a deep pit,
And an immoral woman is a narrow well.
28
She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey],
And she increases the faithless among men.
29
Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Whose eyes are red and dim?
30
Those who linger long over wine,
Those who go to taste mixed wine.(E)
31
Do not look at wine when it is red,
When it sparkles in the glass,
When it goes down smoothly.
32
At the last it bites like a serpent
And stings like a viper.
33
Your [drunken] eyes will see strange things
And your mind will utter perverse things [untrue things, twisted things].
34
And you will be [as unsteady] as one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
And [as vulnerable to disaster] as one who lies down on the top of a ship’s mast, saying,
35
“They struck me, but I was not hurt!
They beat me, but I did not feel it!
When will I wake up?
I will seek more wine.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:13 Lit smite.
- Proverbs 23:14 Lit smite.
- Proverbs 23:23 The ancient rabbis routinely assumed “truth” to refer to the Torah (Law), and they interpreted the first part of this command to mean that a student should pay a teacher to teach him the Torah if he can find no one to teach him for free. As for the second part, they said that if the student had to pay to learn, he should not view this as grounds to charge for teaching others, but should teach the Torah for free.
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2015 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, CA 90631. All rights reserved.
