Proverbs 23
Expanded Bible
23 ·If [or When] you sit down to eat with a ruler,
notice ·the food that [L what] is in front of you.
2 ·Control yourself [L Place a knife at your throat]
·if you have a big [or to control your] appetite.
3 Don’t ·be greedy [long] for his fine foods,
because that food might be ·a trick [false; deceptive].
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich;
be wise enough to ·control [stop] yourself.
5 ·Wealth can vanish in the wink of an eye [L Your eye can fly to it and it will be gone].
It can seem to grow wings
and fly away like an eagle.
6 Don’t eat the food of ·selfish [stingy; L evil eye] people;
don’t ·be greedy [long] for their ·fine foods [delicacies].
7 ·Selfish people are always worrying
about how much the food costs [L They calculate in their minds; or They are like a hair in the throat].
They tell you, “Eat and drink,”
but ·they don’t really mean it [L their heart is not with you].
8 You will ·throw up [vomit] the ·little [L crust] you have eaten,
and you will have wasted your ·kind [pleasant] words.
9 Don’t speak in the ears of fools [Matt. 7:6];
they will only ·ignore [despise] your ·wise [insightful] words.
10 Don’t move an ·old stone that marks a border [ancient boundary marker; 22:28],
and don’t ·take [invade] fields that belong to orphans.
11 God, their ·defender [redeemer], is strong;
he will ·take their side [bring charges; make accusations] against you.
12 ·Remember what you are taught [L Bring your heart to discipline/instruction],
·and listen carefully [L your ear] to words of knowledge.
13 Don’t ·fail to punish [L withhold instruction/discipline from] children.
If you ·spank them [L strike them with a rod], they won’t die.
14 If you ·spank them [L strike them with a rod],
you will save ·them from death [L their lives from Sheol/the grave].
15 My child, if ·you are [L your heart is] wise,
then ·I [L my heart] will be happy.
16 ·I will be so pleased [L My inmost being will rejoice]
if you speak ·what is right [with integrity].
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners [Ps. 73],
but always ·respect [fear; 1:7] the Lord.
18 Then you will have a future,
and your ·wishes [hopes] will ·come true [L not be cut off].
19 Listen, my child, and be wise.
Keep your ·mind on what is right [L heart straight on the path].
20 Don’t ·drink too much [get drunk on] wine
or ·eat too much food [L stuff yourself with meat].
21 Those who ·drink [get drunk] and ·eat too much [stuff themselves] ·become poor [lose possessions].
They ·sleep too much [or are in a stupor] and end up wearing rags.
22 Listen to your father, who ·gave you life [begot you],
and do not ·forget [despise] your mother when she is old.
23 ·Learn [L Buy; Acquire] the truth and never ·reject [L sell] it.
·Get [Buy; Acquire] wisdom, ·self-control [instruction; discipline], and understanding.
24 The father of a ·good [righteous] child is very happy;
parents who have wise children are glad because of them.
25 Make your father and mother happy;
give ·your mother [L the one who bore you] a reason to be glad.
26 My son, ·pay attention [L give your heart] to me,
and ·watch closely what I do [let your eyes watch/or delight in my path].
27 A prostitute is as dangerous as a deep pit,
and an ·unfaithful wife [L foreign woman] is like a narrow well.
28 They ambush you like robbers
and cause many men to be unfaithful to their wives.
29 Who ·has trouble [L cries “Woe!”]? Who ·has pain [L cries “Alas!”]?
Who ·fights [has conflicts]? Who complains?
Who has unnecessary bruises?
Who has ·bloodshot [glazed] eyes?
30 It is people who ·drink too much [L linger over] wine,
who ·try out all different kinds of strong drinks [L go in search of the mixing vessel].
31 Don’t stare at the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly.
32 Later it bites like a snake
with poison ·in its fangs [L like a viper].
33 Your eyes will see strange sights,
and your ·mind will be confused [L heart will speak perverse things].
34 You will ·feel dizzy as if you’re in a storm on [L be like one who lies down in the heart of] the ocean,
as if you’re on top of a ship’s ·sails [mast].
35 You will think, “They hit me, but ·I’m not hurt [L I feel no pain].
They beat me up, but I don’t ·remember [know] it.
I wish I could wake up.
Then I would ·get another drink [L look for it].”
Proverbs 23
Jubilee Bible 2000
23 ¶ When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee;
2 and put a knife to thy throat if thou art a man given to appetite.
3 Do not be desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.
4 ¶ Do not labour to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon riches which are not? For they shall certainly make themselves wings; they shall fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 ¶ Do not eat the bread of anyone who has an evil eye, neither desire his dainty foods;
7 for as he thinks in his soul, so is he; Eat and drink, he shall say unto thee, but his heart is not with thee.
8 Didst thou eat thy part? Thou shalt vomit it up and lose thy sweet words.
9 ¶ Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the prudence of thy words.
10 ¶ Do not remove the old landmark, and do not enter into the inheritance of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall judge their cause against thee.
12 ¶ Apply thine heart unto chastening and thine ears to the words of wisdom.
13 Do not withhold correction from the child; for if thou shall beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if thy heart is wise, my heart shall also rejoice;
16 my kidneys shall also rejoice when thy lips speak right things.
17 ¶ Let not thy heart envy sinners, but persevere in the fear of the LORD all day long.
18 For surely there is an end, and thy hope shall not be cut off.
19 ¶ Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and straighten thy heart in the way.
20 Do not be among those who are drunk with wine; nor among gluttonous eaters of food;
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall cause them to wear rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth and sell it not, also wisdom and instruction and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begets a wise child shall have joy with him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She also lies in wait as for a prey and increases the transgressors among men.
29 ¶ For who shall be the woe? for who shall be the woe? for who contention? for who quarrels? for who the wounds without cause? who shall have redness of eyes?
30 For those that tarry long at the wine; those that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Do not look upon the wine when it is red, when it gives its colour in the cup, it goes down smoothly.
32 At the last it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lies down in the midst of the sea or as he that sleeps at the rudder.
35 They have stricken me, thou shalt say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not; when I shall awake, I will seek it yet again.
Proverbs 23
King James Version
23 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
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