| 1 | When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider who
and
what are before you; |
| 2 | For you will put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to desire. |
| 3 | Be not desirous of his dainties, for it is deceitful food [offered with questionable motives]. |
| 4 | Weary not yourself to be rich; cease from your own [human] wisdom. |
| 5 | Will you set your eyes upon wealth, when [suddenly] it is gone? For riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens. |
| 6 | Eat not the bread of him who has a hard, grudging,
and
envious eye, neither desire his dainty foods; |
| 7 | For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you [but is grudging the cost]. |
| 8 | The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, and your complimentary words will be wasted. |
| 9 | Speak not in the ears of a [self-confident] fool, for he will despise the [godly] Wisdom of your words. |
| 10 | Remove not the ancient landmark and enter not into the fields of the fatherless, |
| 11 | For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you. |
| 12 | Apply your mind to instruction
and
correction and your ears to words of knowledge. |
| 13 | Withhold not discipline from the child; for if you strike
and
punish him with the [reedlike] rod, he will not die. |
| 14 | You shall whip him with the rod and deliver his life from Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead). |
| 15 | My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be glad, even mine; |
| 16 | Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak right things. |
| 17 | Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent
and
worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long. |
| 18 | For surely there is a latter end [a future and a reward], and your hope
and
expectation shall not be cut off. |
| 19 | Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way [of the Lord]. |
| 20 | Do not associate with winebibbers; be not among them
nor
among gluttonous eaters of meat, |
| 21 | For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. |
| 22 | Hearken to your father, who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old. |
| 23 | Buy the truth and sell it not; not only that, but also get discernment
and
judgment, instruction and understanding. |
| 24 | The father of the [uncompromisingly] righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) shall greatly rejoice, and he who becomes the father of a wise child shall have joy in him. |
| 25 | Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice. |
| 26 | My son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe
and
delight in my ways, |
| 27 | For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a loose woman is a narrow pit. |
| 28 | She also lies in wait as a robber
or
as one waits for prey, and she increases the treacherous among men. |
| 29 | Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness
and
dimness of eyes? |
| 30 | Those who tarry long at the wine, those who go to seek
and
try mixed wine. |
| 31 | Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the wineglass, when it goes down smoothly. |
| 32 | At the last it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. |
| 33 | [Under the influence of wine] your eyes will behold strange things [and loose women] and your mind will utter things turned the wrong way [untrue, incorrect, and petulant]. |
| 34 | Yes, you will be [as unsteady] as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, and [as open to disaster] as he who lies upon the top of a mast. |
| 35 | You will say, They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me [as with a hammer], but I did not feel it! When shall I awake? I will crave
and
seek more wine again [and escape reality]. |
Cross references:
-
Proverbs 23:4 : Prov. 28:20; I Tim. 6:9, 10.
-
Proverbs 23:9 : Isa. 32:6.
-
Proverbs 23:10 : Deut. 19:14; 27:17; Prov. 22:28.
-
Proverbs 23:20 : Isa. 5:22; Luke 21:34; Rom. 13:13; Eph. 5:18.
-
Proverbs 23:30 : Prov. 20:1; Eph. 5:18.
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