Proverbs 23
New Living Translation
23 While dining with a ruler,
pay attention to what is put before you.
2 If you are a big eater,
put a knife to your throat;
3 don’t desire all the delicacies,
for he might be trying to trick you.
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Be wise enough to know when to quit.
5 In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
for it will sprout wings
and fly away like an eagle.
6 Don’t eat with people who are stingy;
don’t desire their delicacies.
7 They are always thinking about how much it costs.[a]
“Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.
8 You will throw up what little you’ve eaten,
and your compliments will be wasted.
9 Don’t waste your breath on fools,
for they will despise the wisest advice.
10 Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers;
don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.
11 For their Redeemer[b] is strong;
he himself will bring their charges against you.
12 Commit yourself to instruction;
listen carefully to words of knowledge.
13 Don’t fail to discipline your children.
The rod of punishment won’t kill them.
14 Physical discipline
may well save them from death.[c]
15 My child,[d] if your heart is wise,
my own heart will rejoice!
16 Everything in me will celebrate
when you speak what is right.
17 Don’t envy sinners,
but always continue to fear the Lord.
18 You will be rewarded for this;
your hope will not be disappointed.
19 My child, listen and be wise:
Keep your heart on the right course.
20 Do not carouse with drunkards
or feast with gluttons,
21 for they are on their way to poverty,
and too much sleep clothes them in rags.
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23 Get the truth and never sell it;
also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.
24 The father of godly children has cause for joy.
What a pleasure to have children who are wise.[e]
25 So give your father and mother joy!
May she who gave you birth be happy.
26 O my son, give me your heart.
May your eyes take delight in following my ways.
27 A prostitute is a dangerous trap;
a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.
28 She hides and waits like a robber,
eager to make more men unfaithful.
29 Who has anguish? Who has sorrow?
Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining?
Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns,
trying out new drinks.
31 Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is,
how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.
32 For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake;
it stings like a viper.
33 You will see hallucinations,
and you will say crazy things.
34 You will stagger like a sailor tossed at sea,
clinging to a swaying mast.
35 And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it.
I didn’t even know it when they beat me up.
When will I wake up
so I can look for another drink?”
Proverbs 23
New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition
23 When you sit down to eat with an official,
observe carefully what[a] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
3 Do not desire an official’s[b] delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.(A)
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.(B)
5 When your eyes light upon it, it is gone,
for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6 Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
do not desire their delicacies,(C)
7 for like a hair in the throat, so are they.[c]
“Eat and drink!” they say to you,
but they do not mean it.(D)
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.(E)
10 Do not remove an ancient landmark
or encroach on the fields of orphans,(F)
11 for their vindicator[d] is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.(G)
12 Apply your mind to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.(H)
13 Do not withhold discipline from your children;
if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.(I)
14 If you beat them with the rod,
you will save their lives from Sheol.
15 My child, if your heart is wise,
my heart also will be glad.
16 My soul will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but always continue in the fear of the Lord.(J)
18 Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my child, and be wise,
and direct your mind in the way.
20 Do not be among winebibbers
or among gluttonous eaters of meat,(K)
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags.(L)
22 Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.(M)
23 Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.(N)
24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.(O)
25 Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My child, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe[e] my ways.(P)
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit;
an adulteress[f] is a narrow well.(Q)
28 She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the number of the faithless.(R)
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?(S)
30 Those who linger late over wine,
those who keep trying mixed wines.(T)
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 At the last it bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind utter perverse things.(U)
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.[g]
35 “They struck me,” you will say,[h] “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink.”(V)
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
New Revised Standard Version, Updated Edition. Copyright © 2021 National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.