Proverbs 22:17-23:11

English Standard Version

Words of the Wise

¹⁷^(A)Incline your ear, and hear ^(B)the words of the wise,
    ^(C)and apply your heart to my knowledge,
¹⁸for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
    if all of them are ready on your lips.
¹⁹That your trust may be in the Lord,
    I have made them known to you today, even to you.
²⁰Have I not written for you ^(D)thirty sayings
    of counsel and knowledge,
²¹to ^(E)make you know what is right and true,
    that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?

²²^(F)Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
    or ^(G)crush the afflicted at ^(H)the gate,
²³for ^(I)the Lord will plead their cause
    and rob of life those who rob them.
²⁴Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
    nor go with a wrathful man,
²⁵lest you learn his ways
    and entangle yourself in a snare.
²⁶Be not one of those who ^(J)give pledges,
    who put up security for debts.
²⁷If you have nothing with which to pay,
    why should ^(K)your bed be taken from under you?
²⁸Do not move the ancient ^(L)landmark
    that your fathers have set.
²⁹Do you see a man skillful in his work?
    He will ^(M)stand before kings;
    he will not stand before obscure men.

23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
    observe carefully what^[a] is before you,
²and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to appetite.
³^(N)Do not desire his delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.
⁴^(O)Do not toil to acquire wealth;
    ^(P)be discerning enough to desist.
⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
    ^(Q)for suddenly it sprouts wings,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
⁶^(R)Do not eat the bread of a man who is ^(S)stingy;^[b]
    ^(T)do not desire his delicacies,
⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.^[c]
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his ^(U)heart is not with you.
⁸You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
    and waste your pleasant words.
⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    for he will despise the good sense of your words.
¹⁰^(V)Do not move an ancient landmark
    or enter the fields of the fatherless,
¹¹for their ^(W)Redeemer is strong;
    he will ^(X)plead their cause against you.