Proverbs 23
English Standard Version
23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what[a] is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3 (A)Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4 (B)Do not toil to acquire wealth;
(C)be discerning enough to desist.
5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
(D)for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6 (E)Do not eat the bread of a man who is (F)stingy;[b]
(G)do not desire his delicacies,
7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.[c]
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his (H)heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10 (I)Do not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their (J)Redeemer is strong;
he will (K)plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold (L)discipline from a child;
(M)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike him with the rod,
you will (N)save his soul from Sheol.
15 (O)My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16 My (P)inmost being[d] will exult
when your lips speak (Q)what is right.
17 Let not your heart (R)envy sinners,
but continue in (S)the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely (T)there is a future,
and your (U)hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and (V)be wise,
and (W)direct your heart in the way.
20 Be not among (X)drunkards[e]
or among (Y)gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and (Z)slumber will clothe them with rags.
22 (AA)Listen to your father who gave you life,
(AB)and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 (AC)Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 (AD)The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 (AE)Let your father and mother be glad;
let (AF)her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe[f] my ways.
27 For a prostitute is (AG)a deep pit;
(AH)an adulteress[g] is a narrow (AI)well.
28 (AJ)She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind.
29 (AK)Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has (AL)wounds without cause?
Who has (AM)redness of eyes?
30 Those who (AN)tarry long over wine;
those who go to try (AO)mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 In the end it (AP)bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter (AQ)perverse things.
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.[h]
35 “They (AR)struck me,” you will say,[i] “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I (AS)must have another drink.”
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:1 Or who
- Proverbs 23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil
- Proverbs 23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
- Proverbs 23:16 Hebrew My kidneys
- Proverbs 23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine
- Proverbs 23:26 Or delight in
- Proverbs 23:27 Hebrew a foreign woman
- Proverbs 23:34 Or of the rigging
- Proverbs 23:35 Hebrew lacks you will say
Psalm 42-45
English Standard Version
Book Two
Why Are You Cast Down, O My Soul?
To the choirmaster. A Maskil[a] of (A)the Sons of Korah.
42 (B)As a deer pants for flowing streams,
so pants my soul for you, O God.
2 (C)My soul thirsts for God,
for (D)the living God.
When shall I come and (E)appear before God?[b]
3 (F)My tears have been my food
day and night,
(G)while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
4 These things I remember,
as I (H)pour out my soul:
(I)how I would go (J)with the throng
and lead them in procession to the house of God
with glad shouts and songs of praise,
(K)a multitude keeping festival.
5 (L)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you (M)in turmoil within me?
(N)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation[c] 6 and my God.
My soul is cast down within me;
therefore I (O)remember you
(P)from the land of Jordan and of (Q)Hermon,
from Mount Mizar.
7 Deep calls to deep
at the roar of your waterfalls;
(R)all your breakers and your (S)waves
have gone over me.
8 By day the Lord (T)commands his steadfast love,
and at (U)night his song is with me,
a prayer to the God of my life.
9 I say to God, (V)my rock:
“Why have you forgotten me?
(W)Why do I go mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?”
10 As with a deadly wound in my bones,
my adversaries taunt me,
(X)while they say to me all the day long,
“Where is your God?”
11 (Y)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Send Out Your Light and Your Truth
43 (Z)Vindicate me, O God, and (AA)defend my cause
against an ungodly people,
from (AB)the deceitful and unjust man
deliver me!
2 For you are (AC)the God in whom I take refuge;
why have you (AD)rejected me?
Why do I (AE)go about mourning
because of the oppression of the enemy?
3 (AF)Send out your light and your truth;
let them lead me;
let them bring me to your (AG)holy hill
and to your (AH)dwelling!
4 Then I will go to the altar of God,
to God my exceeding joy,
and I will praise you with the lyre,
O God, my God.
5 (AI)Why are you cast down, O my soul,
and why are you in turmoil within me?
(AJ)Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
Come to Our Help
To the choirmaster. (AK)A Maskil[d] of the Sons of Korah.
44 O God, we have heard with our ears,
(AL)our fathers have told us,
what deeds you performed in their days,
(AM)in the days of old:
2 you with your own hand (AN)drove out the nations,
but (AO)them you planted;
you afflicted the peoples,
but (AP)them you set free;
3 for not (AQ)by their own sword did they win the land,
nor did their own arm save them,
but your right hand and your arm,
and (AR)the light of your face,
(AS)for you delighted in them.
4 (AT)You are my King, O God;
(AU)ordain salvation for Jacob!
5 Through you we (AV)push down our foes;
through your name we (AW)tread down those who rise up against us.
6 For not in (AX)my bow do I trust,
nor can my sword save me.
7 But you have saved us from our foes
and have (AY)put to shame those who hate us.
8 (AZ)In God we have boasted continually,
and we will give thanks to your name forever. Selah
9 But you have (BA)rejected us and disgraced us
and (BB)have not gone out with our armies.
10 You have made us (BC)turn back from the foe,
and those who hate us have gotten spoil.
11 You have made us like (BD)sheep for slaughter
and have (BE)scattered us among the nations.
12 (BF)You have sold your people for a trifle,
demanding no high price for them.
13 You have made us (BG)the taunt of our neighbors,
the derision and (BH)scorn of those around us.
14 You have made us (BI)a byword among the nations,
(BJ)a laughingstock[e] among the peoples.
15 All day long my disgrace is before me,
and (BK)shame has covered my face
16 at the sound of the taunter and reviler,
at the sight of (BL)the enemy and the avenger.
17 (BM)All this has come upon us,
though we have not forgotten you,
and we have not been false to your covenant.
18 Our heart has not turned back,
nor have our (BN)steps (BO)departed from your way;
19 yet you have (BP)broken us in the place of (BQ)jackals
and covered us with (BR)the shadow of death.
20 If we had forgotten the name of our God
or (BS)spread out our hands to (BT)a foreign god,
21 (BU)would not God discover this?
(BV)For he knows the secrets of the heart.
22 Yet (BW)for your sake we are killed all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.
23 (BX)Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord?
Rouse yourself! (BY)Do not reject us forever!
24 Why (BZ)do you hide your face?
Why do you forget our affliction and oppression?
25 For our (CA)soul is bowed down to the dust;
our belly clings to the ground.
26 Rise up; (CB)come to our help!
(CC)Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love!
Your Throne, O God, Is Forever
To the choirmaster: according to Lilies. A Maskil[f] of (CD)the Sons of Korah; a love song.
45 My heart overflows with a pleasing theme;
I address my verses to the king;
my tongue is like the pen of (CE)a ready scribe.
2 You are (CF)the most handsome of the sons of men;
(CG)grace is poured upon your lips;
therefore God has blessed you forever.
3 (CH)Gird your (CI)sword on your thigh, O (CJ)mighty one,
in (CK)your splendor and majesty!
4 In your majesty (CL)ride out victoriously
for the cause of truth and meekness and righteousness;
let your right hand teach you (CM)awesome deeds!
5 Your arrows are sharp
in the heart of the king's enemies;
the peoples fall under you.
6 (CN)Your throne, O God, is forever and ever.
The (CO)scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness;
7 (CP)you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness.
Therefore (CQ)God, your God, has (CR)anointed you
with the oil of (CS)gladness (CT)beyond your companions;
8 your robes are all fragrant with (CU)myrrh and aloes and cassia.
From ivory palaces (CV)stringed instruments make you glad;
9 daughters of kings are among your ladies of honor;
(CW)at your right hand stands the queen in (CX)gold of Ophir.
10 Hear, O daughter, and consider, and incline your ear:
forget your people and your father's house,
11 and the king will desire your beauty.
Since he is your (CY)lord, (CZ)bow to him.
12 The people[g] of Tyre will (DA)seek your favor with (DB)gifts,
(DC)the richest of the people.[h]
13 All glorious is (DD)the princess in her chamber, with robes interwoven with gold.
14 (DE)In many-colored robes (DF)she is led to the king,
with her virgin companions following behind her.
15 With joy and gladness they are led along
as they enter the palace of the king.
16 In place of your fathers shall be your sons;
you will make them (DG)princes in all the earth.
17 (DH)I will cause your name to be remembered in all generations;
therefore nations will praise you forever and ever.
Footnotes
- Psalm 42:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 42:2 Revocalization yields and see the face of God
- Psalm 42:5 Hebrew the salvation of my face; also verse 11 and 43:5
- Psalm 44:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 44:14 Hebrew a shaking of the head
- Psalm 45:1 Probably a musical or liturgical term
- Psalm 45:12 Hebrew daughter
- Psalm 45:12 Or The daughter of Tyre is here with gifts, the richest of people seek your favor
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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