Proverbs 23 - ESV - BibliaVida

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what^a is before you,

2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

3 ¹Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

4 ²Do not toil to acquire wealth; ³be discerning enough to desist.

5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, ⁴for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

6 ⁵Do not eat the bread of a man who is ⁶stingy;^b ⁷do not desire his delicacies,

7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.^c "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his ⁸heart is not with you.

8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

10 ⁹Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,

11 for their ¹⁰Redeemer is strong; he will ¹¹plead their cause against you.

12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

13 Do not withhold ¹²discipline from a child; ¹³if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

14 If you strike him with the rod, you will ¹⁴save his soul from Sheol.

15 ¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

16 My ¹⁶inmost being^d will exult when your lips speak ¹⁷what is right.

17 Let not your heart ¹⁸envy sinners, but continue in ¹⁹the fear of the LORD all the day.

18 Surely ²⁰there is a future, and your ²¹hope will not be cut off.

19 Hear, my son, and ²²be wise, and ²³direct your heart in the way.

20 Be not among ²⁴drunkards^e or among ²⁵gluttonous eaters of meat,

21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and ²⁶slumber will clothe them with rags

22 ²⁷Listen to your father who gave you life, ²⁸and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 ²⁹Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

24 ³⁰The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

25 ³¹Let your father and mother be glad; let ³²her who bore you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe^f my ways.

27 For a prostitute is ³³a deep pit; ³⁴an adulteress^g is a narrow ³⁵well.

28 ³⁶She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

29 ³⁷Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has ³⁸wounds without cause? Who has ³⁹redness of eyes?

30 Those who ⁴⁰tarry long over wine; those who go to try ⁴¹mixed wine.

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

32 In the end it ⁴²bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter ⁴³perverse things.

34 You 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 ⁴⁴struck me," you will say,ⁱ"but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I ⁴⁵must have another drink."

Proverbs 23 ESV