Proverbs 23

1

When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully what is before you,

2

and put a knife to your throat

if you possess a large appetite.

3

Do not crave that ruler’s delicacies,

for that food is deceptive.

4

Do not wear yourself out to become rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself.

5

When you gaze upon riches, they are gone,

for they surely make wings for themselves,

and fly off into the sky like an eagle!

6

Do not eat the food of a stingy person,

do not crave his delicacies;

7

for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind.

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you;

8

you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten,

and will have wasted your pleasant words.

9

Do not speak in the ears of a fool,

for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

10

Do not move an ancient boundary stone,

or take over the fields of the fatherless,

11

for their Protector is strong;

he will plead their case against you.

12

Apply your heart to instruction

and your ears to the words of knowledge.

13

Do not withhold discipline from a child;

even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

14

If you strike him with the rod,

you will deliver him from death.

15

My child, if your heart is wise,

then 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 rather be zealous in fearing the Lord all the time.

18

For surely there is a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.

19

Listen, my child, and be wise,

and guide your heart on the right way.

20

Do not spend time among drunkards,

among those who eat too much meat,

21

because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished,

and drowsiness clothes them with rags.

22

Listen to your father who begot you,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23

Acquire truth and do not sell it –

wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.

24

The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly;

whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.

25

May your father and your mother have joy;

may she who bore you rejoice.

26

Give me your heart, my son,

and let your eyes observe my ways;

27

for a prostitute is like a deep pit;

a harlot is like a narrow well.

28

Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber,

and increases the unfaithful among men.

29

Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has contentions? Who has complaints?

Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the eyes?

30

Those who linger over wine,

those who go looking for mixed wine.

31

Do not look on the wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup,

when it goes down smoothly.

32

Afterward it bites like a snake,

and stings like a viper.

33

Your eyes will see strange things,

and your mind will speak perverse things.

34

And you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,

and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging.

35

You will say, “They have struck me, but I am not harmed!

They beat me, but I did not know it!

When will I awake? I will look for another drink.”

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