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
New American Standard Bible
On Life and Conduct
23 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully [a]what is before you,
2 And put a knife to your throat
If you are a (A)person of great appetite.
3 Do not (B)desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.
4 (C)Do not weary yourself to gain wealth;
[b](D)Stop dwelling on it.
5 [c]When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For (E)wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
6 (F)Do not eat the bread of [d]a (G)selfish person;
Or desire his delicacies;
7 For as he [e]thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, “Eat and drink!”
But (H)his heart is not with you.
8 You will (I)vomit up [f]the morsel you have eaten
And waste your [g]compliments.
10 Do not move the ancient boundary
Or (L)go into the fields of the fatherless,
11 For their (M)Redeemer is strong;
(N)He will plead their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to discipline,
And your ears to words of knowledge.
13 (O)Do not withhold discipline from a child;
Though you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 You shall strike him with the rod
And (P)rescue his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is (Q)wise,
My own heart also will be glad,
16 And my [i]innermost being will rejoice
When your lips speak (R)what is right.
17 (S)Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in [j]the (T)fear of the Lord [k]always.
18 Certainly there is a [l](U)future,
And your (V)hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and (W)be wise,
And (X)direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not be with (Y)heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with (Z)gluttonous eaters of meat;
21 For the (AA)heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And (AB)drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
22 (AC)Listen to your father, who fathered you,
And (AD)do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 (AE)Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And (AF)he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 Let your (AG)father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
26 (AH)Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes [m](AI)delight in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a (AJ)deep pit,
And a [n](AK)strange woman is a narrow well.
28 Certainly she (AL)lurks as a robber,
And increases the treacherous among mankind.
29 Who has (AM)woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has red eyes?
30 Those who (AN)linger long over wine,
Those who go to [o]taste (AO)mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
When it [p]sparkles in the cup,
When it (AP)goes down smoothly;
32 In the end it (AQ)bites like a snake
And stings like a (AR)viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your [q]mind will (AS)say perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the [r]middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a [s]mast.
35 “They (AT)struck me, but I did not become [t]ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When will I awake?
I will (AU)seek [u]another drink.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:1 Or who
- Proverbs 23:4 Lit Refrain from your understanding of it
- Proverbs 23:5 Lit Will your eyes fly upon it and it is not?
- Proverbs 23:6 Lit an evil eye
- Proverbs 23:7 Lit reckons in his soul
- Proverbs 23:8 Lit your
- Proverbs 23:8 Lit pleasant words
- Proverbs 23:9 Lit in the ears of a
- Proverbs 23:16 Lit kidneys
- Proverbs 23:17 Or reverence for
- Proverbs 23:17 Lit all the day
- Proverbs 23:18 Lit latter end
- Proverbs 23:26 Another reading is observe
- Proverbs 23:27 Lit foreign
- Proverbs 23:30 Or search out
- Proverbs 23:31 Lit gives its eye
- Proverbs 23:33 Lit heart
- Proverbs 23:34 Lit heart
- Proverbs 23:34 Or lookout
- Proverbs 23:35 I.e., from the effect of wounds
- Proverbs 23:35 Lit it yet again
The Expanded Bible, Copyright © 2011 Thomas Nelson Inc. All rights reserved.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
