Proverbs 23

English Standard Version

23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
    observe carefully what^[a] is before you,
²and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to appetite.
³^(A)Do not desire his delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.
⁴^(B)Do not toil to acquire wealth;
    ^(C)be discerning enough to desist.
⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
    ^(D)for suddenly it sprouts wings,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
⁶^(E)Do not eat the bread of a man who is ^(F)stingy;^[b]
    ^(G)do not desire his delicacies,
⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.^[c]
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his ^(H)heart is not with you.
⁸You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
    and waste your pleasant words.
⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    for he will despise the good sense of your words.
¹⁰^(I)Do not move an ancient landmark
    or enter the fields of the fatherless,
¹¹for their ^(J)Redeemer is strong;
    he will ^(K)plead their cause against you.
¹²Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
¹³Do not withhold ^(L)discipline from a child;
    ^(M)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴If you strike him with the rod,
    you will ^(N)save his soul from Sheol.
¹⁵^(O)My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
¹⁶My ^(P)inmost being^[d] will exult
    when your lips speak ^(Q)what is right.
¹⁷Let not your heart ^(R)envy sinners,
    but continue in ^(S)the fear of the Lord all the day.
¹⁸Surely ^(T)there is a future,
    and your ^(U)hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and ^(V)be wise,
    and ^(W)direct your heart in the way.
²⁰Be not among ^(X)drunkards^[e]
    or among ^(Y)gluttonous eaters of meat,
²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and ^(Z)slumber will clothe them with rags.

²²^(AA)Listen to your father who gave you life,
    ^(AB)and do not despise your mother when she is old.
²³^(AC)Buy truth, and do not sell it;
    buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
²⁴^(AD)The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
    he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
²⁵^(AE)Let your father and mother be glad;
    let ^(AF)her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart,
    and let your eyes observe^[f] my ways.
²⁷For a prostitute is ^(AG)a deep pit;
    ^(AH)an adulteress^[g] is a narrow ^(AI)well.
²⁸^(AJ)She lies in wait like a robber
    and increases the traitors among mankind.

²⁹^(AK)Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has ^(AL)wounds without cause?
    Who has ^(AM)redness of eyes?
³⁰Those who ^(AN)tarry long over wine;
    those who go to try ^(AO)mixed wine.
³¹Do not look at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup
    and goes down smoothly.
³²In the end it ^(AP)bites like a serpent
    and stings like an adder.
³³Your eyes will see strange things,
    and your heart utter ^(AQ)perverse things.
³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
    like one who lies on the top of a mast.^[h]
³⁵“They ^(AR)struck me,” you will say,^[i] “but I was not hurt;
    they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
    I ^(AS)must have another drink.”