Proverbs23

Proverbs 23 offers counsel on self-control and wisdom in various life situations. It warns against gluttony, the pursuit of fleeting riches, and the dangers of associating with insincere individuals and fools. The chapter emphasizes the importance of parental discipline, honoring one's parents, and diligently seeking truth and understanding, while strongly cautioning against the destructive paths of drunkenness and immorality.

Prudence When Dining with Rulers

1
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which is before thee,
2
And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou art a man of appetite.
3
Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it is lying food.

The Folly of Chasing Riches

4
Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.
5
For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.

Avoid the Stingy, Malicious Host

6
Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,
7
For as he hath thought in his soul, so is he, `Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart is not with thee.
8
Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that are sweet.

Wisdom for Different Audiences

9
In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.

Respect Boundaries and the Poor

10
Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,
11
For their Redeemer is strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.

Commitment to Instruction

12
Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.
13
Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.
14
Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.
15
My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,
16
And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.

Do Not Envy Sinners

17
Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But--in the fear of Jehovah all the day.
18
For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.

Avoid Drunkenness and Gluttony

19
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,
20
Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,
21
For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.
22
Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.
23
Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,
24
The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.
25
Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.

The Danger of Sexual Immorality

26
Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.
27
For a harlot is a deep ditch, And a strange woman is a strait pit.
28
She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.

The Catalogue of Drunken Misery

29
Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?
30
Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.
31
See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.
32
Its latter end--as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.
33
Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.
34
And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.
35
`They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake--I seek it yet again!'
Use ← → arrow keys to navigate
Settings

Reading Style

Typeface

Font Size 19px

Reading Width 45 chars

Options