Proverbs 23:12-35

English Standard Version

¹²Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
¹³Do not withhold ^(A)discipline from a child;
    ^(B)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴If you strike him with the rod,
    you will ^(C)save his soul from Sheol.
¹⁵^(D)My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
¹⁶My ^(E)inmost being^[a] will exult
    when your lips speak ^(F)what is right.
¹⁷Let not your heart ^(G)envy sinners,
    but continue in ^(H)the fear of the Lord all the day.
¹⁸Surely ^(I)there is a future,
    and your ^(J)hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and ^(K)be wise,
    and ^(L)direct your heart in the way.
²⁰Be not among ^(M)drunkards^[b]
    or among ^(N)gluttonous eaters of meat,
²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and ^(O)slumber will clothe them with rags.

²²^(P)Listen to your father who gave you life,
    ^(Q)and do not despise your mother when she is old.
²³^(R)Buy truth, and do not sell it;
    buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
²⁴^(S)The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
    he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
²⁵^(T)Let your father and mother be glad;
    let ^(U)her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart,
    and let your eyes observe^[c] my ways.
²⁷For a prostitute is ^(V)a deep pit;
    ^(W)an adulteress^[d] is a narrow ^(X)well.
²⁸^(Y)She lies in wait like a robber
    and increases the traitors among mankind.

²⁹^(Z)Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has ^(AA)wounds without cause?
    Who has ^(AB)redness of eyes?
³⁰Those who ^(AC)tarry long over wine;
    those who go to try ^(AD)mixed wine.
³¹Do not look at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup
    and goes down smoothly.
³²In the end it ^(AE)bites like a serpent
    and stings like an adder.
³³Your eyes will see strange things,
    and your heart utter ^(AF)perverse things.
³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
    like one who lies on the top of a mast.^[e]
³⁵“They ^(AG)struck me,” you will say,^[f] “but I was not hurt;
    they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
    I ^(AH)must have another drink.”