Proverb 23

Proverbs 23 (New American Standard Bible)

Proverbs 23

On Life and Conduct

    ¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
         Consider carefully what is before you,
    ²And put a knife to your throat
         If you are a ^(A)man of great appetite.
    ³Do not ^(B)desire his delicacies,
         For it is deceptive food.
    ^4(C)Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
         ^(D)Cease from your consideration of it.
    ⁵When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
         For ^(E)wealth certainly makes itself wings
         Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.
    ^6(F)Do not eat the bread of a ^(G)selfish man,
         Or desire his delicacies;
    ⁷For as he thinks within himself, so he is.
         He says to you, "Eat and drink!"
         But ^(H)his heart is not with you.
    ⁸You will ^(I)vomit up the morsel you have eaten,
         And waste your compliments.
    ^9(J)Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
         For he will ^(K)despise the wisdom of your words.
    ¹⁰Do not move the ancient boundary
         Or ^(L)go into the fields of the fatherless,
    ¹¹For their ^(M)Redeemer is strong;
         ^(N)He will plead their case against you.
    ¹²Apply your heart to discipline
         And your ears to words of knowledge.
    ^13(O)Do not hold back discipline from the child,
         Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
    ¹⁴You shall strike him with the rod
         And ^(P)rescue his soul from Sheol.
    ¹⁵My son, if your heart is ^(Q)wise,
         My own heart also will be glad;
    ¹⁶And my inmost being will rejoice
         When your lips speak ^(R)what is right.
    ^17(S)Do not let your heart envy sinners,
         But live in the ^(T)fear of the LORD always.
    ¹⁸Surely there is a ^(U)future,
         And your ^(V)hope will not be cut off.
    ¹⁹Listen, my son, and ^(W)be wise,
         And ^(X)direct your heart in the way.
    ²⁰Do not be with ^(Y)heavy drinkers of wine,
         Or with ^(Z)gluttonous eaters of meat;
    ²¹For the ^(AA)heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
         And ^(AB)drowsiness will clothe one with rags.
    ^22(AC)Listen to your father who begot you,
         And ^(AD)do not despise your mother when she is old.
    ^23(AE)Buy truth, and do not sell it,
         Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
    ²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
         And ^(AF)he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.
    ²⁵Let your ^(AG)father and your mother be glad,
         And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.
    ^26(AH)Give me your heart, my son,
         And let your eyes ^(AI)delight in my ways.
    ²⁷For a harlot is a ^(AJ)deep pit
         And an ^(AK)adulterous woman is a narrow well.
    ²⁸Surely she ^(AL)lurks as a robber,
         And increases the faithless among men.
    ²⁹Who has ^(AM)woe? Who has sorrow?
         Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
         Who has wounds without cause?
         Who has redness of eyes?
    ³⁰Those who ^(AN)linger long over wine,
         Those who go to taste ^(AO)mixed wine.
    ³¹Do not look on the wine when it is red,
         When it sparkles in the cup,
         When it ^(AP)goes down smoothly;
    ³²At the last it ^(AQ)bites like a serpent
         And stings like a ^(AR)viper.
    ³³Your eyes will see strange things
         And your mind will ^(AS)utter perverse things.
    ³⁴And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea,
         Or like one who lies down on the top of a ^[a]mast.
    ³⁵"They ^(AT)struck me, but I did not become ill;
         They beat me, but I did not know it
         When shall I awake?
         I will ^(AU)seek another drink."