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
Proverbs 23
International Standard Version
Things to Avoid in Life
23 Whenever you sit down to dine with a ruler,
carefully think about what is before you.
2 Put a knife to your own throat,
if you have a big appetite.[a]
3 Don’t crave his delicacies,
because the meal is deceptive.
4 Don’t exhaust yourself acquiring wealth;
be smart enough to stop.
5 When you fix your gaze on it, it’s gone,
for it sprouts wings for itself
and flies to the sky like an eagle.
6 Don’t consume food provided by a miserly[b] person,
and don’t desire his delicacies,
7 for as he thinks within himself, so he is.
“Eat and drink!” he’ll say to you,
but his heart won’t be with you.
8 You’ll vomit up what little you’ve eaten,
and your compliments will have been wasted.
9 Don’t speak when a fool is listening,
because he’ll despise your wise words.
10 Don’t move ancient boundaries
or invade fields belonging to orphans;
11 for strong is their Redeemer
who will take up their case against you.
12 Learn diligently,
and listen to words of knowledge.
13 Don’t withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish him with a rod,
he won’t die.
14 Punish him with a rod,
and you will rescue his soul from Sheol.[c]
On Listening to Your Parents
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
my own heart will greatly rejoice.
16 My innermost being will be glad
when your lips speak what is right.
17 Never let yourself envy sinners;
instead, remain[d] in fear of the Lord every day,
18 for there is surely a future life,
and what you hope for will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise,
commit yourself to live God’s[e] way.
20 Don’t associate with heavy drinkers
or dine with gluttons,
21 because drunks and gluttons tend to become poor,
and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
22 Listen to the one who fathered you,
and don’t despise your mother in her old age.
23 Purchase truth, but don’t sell it;
store up[f] wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous person will greatly rejoice;
whoever fathers a wise son will be glad because of him.
25 Let your father and mother rejoice;
make the one who gave birth to you happy.
26 Give me your heart, my son,
and keep your eyes fixed on my ways,
27 because a prostitute is a deep pit,
and the adulterous[g] woman a narrow well.
28 Surely she lies in wait like a bandit,
increasing those who are faithless among mankind.
On Sobriety
29 Who has woe? Who has grief?
Who has contention? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over their wine,
who consume mixed drinks.
31 Don’t stare into red wine,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 Eventually it will bite like a snake
and sting like a serpent.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and with slurred words you’ll speak what you really believe.
34 You will be like someone who lies down in the sea,
or like someone who sleeps on top of a mast.
35 “They struck me,” you will say,[h]
“but I never felt it.
They beat me,
but I never knew it.
When will I wake up?
I want another drink.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:2 Lit. a master of an appetite
- Proverbs 23:6 Lit. by the evil eyed
- Proverbs 23:14 I.e. the realm of the dead
- Proverbs 23:17 The Heb. lacks remain
- Proverbs 23:19 Lit. live in the
- Proverbs 23:23 The Heb. lacks store up
- Proverbs 23:27 Lit. foreign
- Proverbs 23:35 The Heb. lacks you will say
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
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