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Proverbs 23

Berean Standard Bible

Section headings and translator notes come from the publisher; they are reading aids, distinct from the Bible text.

True Riches

Saying 7

Verse1When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you,

Verse2and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.

Verse3Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

Verse4Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.

Verse5When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Saying 9

Verse6Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;

Verse7for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

Verse8You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.

Saying 10

Verse9Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

Saying 11

Verse10Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

Verse11for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.

Saying 12

Verse12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.

Saying 13

Verse13Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

Verse14Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

Saying 14

Verse15My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.

Verse16My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

Saying 15

Verse17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.

Verse18For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

Verse19Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.

Verse20Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.

Verse21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

Saying 17

Verse22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

Verse23Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

Verse24The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

Verse25May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!

Saying 18

Verse26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.

Verse27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.

Verse28Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.

Saying 19

Verse29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?

Verse30Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.

Verse31Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

Verse32In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

Verse33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.

Verse34You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:

Verse35“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?”

Translator notes (5)
  • Verse 1: Or who is before you
  • Verse 6: Literally of him whose eye is evil
  • Verse 7: Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
  • Verse 16: Hebrew My kidneys
  • Verse 27: Or a foreign woman or a wayward wife
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