Proverbs 23
Legacy Standard Bible
The Fear of Yahweh
23 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Understand well [a]what is before you,
2 So you should put a knife to your throat
If you are a (A)man of appetite.
3 Do not (B)desire his delicacies,
For it is bread of falsehood.
4 (C)Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
(D)Because of your understanding, cease!
5 Do you make your eyes fly up to see it? But it is not there!
Because (E)it certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
6 (F)Do not eat the bread of [b]a (G)selfish man,
And do not desire his delicacies;
7 For as he [c]calculates in his soul, so he is.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
But (H)his heart is not with you.
8 You will (I)vomit up [d]the morsel you have eaten,
And you will corrupt your pleasant words.
10 Do not move the ancient boundary
And do not (L)come into the fields of the orphans,
11 For their (M)Redeemer is strong;
(N)He will plead their case against you.
12 Bring your heart to discipline
And your ears to [f]words of knowledge.
13 (O)Do not withhold discipline from the child,
Although you [g]strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 You shall [h]strike him with the rod
And (P)deliver his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is (Q)wise,
My own heart also will be glad;
16 And my [i]inmost being will exult
When your lips speak (R)upright things.
17 (S)Do not let your heart be jealous of sinners,
But be zealous in the [j](T)fear of Yahweh [k]always.
18 Surely there is a [l](U)future,
And your (V)hope will not be cut off.
19 You, my son, listen 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 them with rags.
22 (AC)Listen to your father who begot you,
And (AD)do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 (AE)Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom and discipline and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And (AF)he who begets 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 your heart to me, my son,
And let your eyes [m](AI)delight in my ways.
27 For a harlot is a (AJ)deep pit
And [n]a (AK)foreign woman is a narrow well.
28 Surely she (AL)lies in wait as a robber,
And adds to the treacherous among men.
29 Who has (AM)woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
30 Those who (AN)linger long over wine,
Those who go to search out (AO)mixed wine.
31 Do not look on the wine when it glistens red,
When it [o]sparkles in the cup,
When it (AP)goes down smoothly;
32 At the end—like a serpent it (AQ)bites,
And like a (AR)viper it stings.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
And your heart will (AS)speak perverse things.
34 And you will be like one who lies down in the heart of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a [p]mast.
35 “They (AT)struck me, but I did not become [q]ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When shall I awake?
I will (AU)seek yet another.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:1 Or who
- Proverbs 23:6 Lit an evil eye
- Proverbs 23:7 Lit reckons in his soul
- Proverbs 23:8 Lit your
- Proverbs 23:9 Lit ears
- Proverbs 23:12 Lit sayings
- Proverbs 23:13 Lit smite
- Proverbs 23:14 Lit smite
- Proverbs 23:16 Lit kidneys
- Proverbs 23:17 Or reverence
- Proverbs 23:17 Lit all the day
- Proverbs 23:18 Lit latter end
- Proverbs 23:26 Or observe
- Proverbs 23:27 Or an adulterous, cf. Prov 2:16
- Proverbs 23:31 Lit gives its eye
- Proverbs 23:34 Or lookout
- Proverbs 23:35 From the effect of wounds
Proverbs 23
Lexham English Bible
23 When you sit to eat with a ruler,
you shall surely observe what is before you,
2 and you shall put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.[a]
3 Do not desire his delicacies,
for[b] it is food of deception.
4 Do not tire in order to become rich;
out of your understanding, may you desist.
5 Your eyes will alight[c] on it, but there is nothing to it,
for suddenly it will make for itself wings
like an eagle and it will be exhausted in the heavens.
6 Do not eat the bread of the stingy,[d]
and do not desire his delicacies.
7 For, like hair in his throat,[e] so it is.[f]
“Eat and drink!” he will say to you,
but his heart will not be with you.
8 Your morsel you have eaten, you will vomit it up,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
9 In the ears of a fool do not speak,
for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not remove an ancient boundary marker,
and on the fields of orphans do not encroach;
11 For their redeemer is strong,
he himself will plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart[g] to instruction,
and your ear to sayings of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child,
if you will beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14 As for you, with the rod you shall beat him,
and his life[h] you will save from Sheol.[i]
15 My child, if your heart[j] is wise,
my heart will be glad—even me!
16 And my insides[k] will rejoice
when your lips speak what is upright.
17 May your heart[l] not envy the sinners,
but live in fear of Yahweh all day.[m]
18 Surely[n] there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
19 You, my child, hear and be wise,
and direct your heart[o] on the road.
20 Do not be among drinkers of wine,
among gluttonous eaters of their meat.[p]
21 For the drunkard and gluttonous, they will become poor,
and with rags, drowsiness will clothe them.
22 Listen to your father—he who gave you life,[q]
and do not despise your mother when[r] she is old.
23 Buy truth and do not sell it,
wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous will surely rejoice;
he who bears a wise person will be happy with him.
25 May your father and your mother be glad,
and may she who bore you rejoice.
26 My child, may you give your heart[s] to me,
and may your eyes delight in my ways.
27 For a deep pit is a prostitute,[t]
and a narrow well is an adulteress.[u]
28 She is also like a robber lying in wait,
and the faithless among mankind she increases.
29 To whom is woe? To whom is sorrow? To whom are quarrels? To whom is complaint?
To whom are wounds without cause? To whom is redness of the eyes?
30 To those who linger over wine,
to those who come to try mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles[v] on the cup,
going down smoothly.
32 In the end,[w] it will bite like a serpent,
and it will sting like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart[x] will speak perverse things.
34 And you will be like him who lies down in the heart of the sea,
and like him who lies down on top of a mast.
35 “They struck me; I was not hurt. They beat me; I did not know it.
When I will awake, I will continue; I will seek it again.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:2 Literally “lord/master of life”
- Proverbs 23:3 Hebrew “and”
- Proverbs 23:5 Literally “cause to fly”
- Proverbs 23:6 Literally “stingy of eye”
- Proverbs 23:7 Literally “soul,” or “inner self”
- Proverbs 23:7 Or “is he”
- Proverbs 23:12 Or “mind”
- Proverbs 23:14 Or “soul,” or “inner self”
- Proverbs 23:14 A term for the place where the dead reside, i.e., the Underworld
- Proverbs 23:15 Or “mind”
- Proverbs 23:16 Literally “kidneys”
- Proverbs 23:17 Or “mind”
- Proverbs 23:17 Literally “all the day”
- Proverbs 23:18 Literally “For if”
- Proverbs 23:19 Or “mind”
- Proverbs 23:20 Literally “meat for them”
- Proverbs 23:22 Literally “caused you to be born”
- Proverbs 23:22 Or “for, because”
- Proverbs 23:26 Or “mind”
- Proverbs 23:27 Or “whore”
- Proverbs 23:27 Literally “a foreign woman”
- Proverbs 23:31 Literally “gives its eye”
- Proverbs 23:32 Literally “end him”
- Proverbs 23:33 Or “mind”
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