Proverbs Chapter 23 of 31 about 3 min read

Proverbs 23

What happens in this chapter

Chapter summary coming soon.

Verse 1. When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you,

Verse 2. and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.

Verse 3. Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

Verse 4. Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.

Verse 5. When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Verse 6. Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;

Verse 7. for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

Verse 8. You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.

Verse 9. Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

Verse 10. Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

Verse 11. for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.

Verse 12. Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

Verse 13. Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

Verse 14. Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

Verse 15. My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.

Verse 16. My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

Verse 17. Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.

Verse 18. For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Verse 19. Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.

Verse 20. Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.

Verse 21. For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

Verse 22. Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Verse 23. Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

Verse 24. The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

Verse 25. May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!

Verse 26. My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.

Verse 27. For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.

Verse 28. Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.

Verse 29. Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?

Verse 30. Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.

Verse 31. Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

Verse 32. In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

Verse 33. Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.

Verse 34. You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:

Verse 35. “They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”