Proverbs 23 | English Standard Version

English Standard Version

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what^[1] is before you, 2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. 3 Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. (Pr 23:6) 4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. (Pr 3:5; Pr 3:7; Pr 15:27; Pr 26:12; Pr 28:20; Isa 5:21; Mt 6:19; Ro 12:16; 1Ti 6:9; Heb 13:5)

Pr 3:5Pr 3:7Pr 15:27Pr 26:12Pr 28:20Isa 5:21Mt 6:19Ro 12:161Ti 6:9Heb 13:5

5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. (Pr 27:24) 6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy;^[2] do not desire his delicacies, (De 15:9; Ps 141:4; Pr 23:3; Pr 28:22)

De 15:9Ps 141:4Pr 23:3Pr 28:22

7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.^[3] “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. (Ps 12:2) 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 Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, (Pr 22:28) 11 for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you. (Ex 6:6; Job 19:25; Pr 22:23) 12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. 13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. (Pr 13:24; Pr 19:18) 14 If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. (1Co 5:5) 15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. (Pr 23:24; Pr 29:3) 16 My inmost being^[4] will exult when your lips speak what is right. (Ps 7:9; Ps 73:21; Pr 8:6) 17 Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day. (Ps 37:1; Pr 28:14) 18 Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. (Ps 9:18; Pr 24:14; Pr 24:20) 19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. (Pr 6:6; Pr 9:6) 20 Be not among drunkards^[5] or among gluttonous eaters of meat, (Pr 23:29; Pr 28:7; Isa 5:11; Isa 5:22; Mt 24:49; Lu 21:34; Ro 13:13; Eph 5:18)

Pr 23:29Pr 28:7Isa 5:11Isa 5:22Mt 24:49Lu 21:34Ro 13:13Eph 5:18

21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags. (Pr 6:10) 22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. (Pr 1:8; Pr 30:17) 23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. (Pr 4:5; Pr 4:7; Pr 18:15; Mt 13:44)

Pr 4:5Pr 4:7Pr 18:15Mt 13:44

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. (Pr 23:15; Pr 29:3) 25 Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. (Pr 17:25; Pr 23:24) 26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe^[6] my ways. 27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress^[7] is a narrow well. (Ps 55:23; Pr 2:16; Pr 22:14) 28 She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind. (Pr 7:12; Ec 7:26) 29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? (Ge 49:12; Pr 23:20; Pr 23:35) 30 Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. (Ps 75:8; Pr 9:2; Pr 9:5; Isa 5:11; Isa 5:22; Isa 65:11)

Ps 75:8Pr 9:2Pr 9:5Isa 5:11Isa 5:22Isa 65:11

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 bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. (Job 20:16) 33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. (Pr 2:12) 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.^[8] 35 “They struck me,” you will say,^[9] “but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink.” (Pr 23:29; Isa 56:12; Jer 5:3)

King James Version

1 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.