Proverbs Chapter 23
They’ll serve kings, not just ordinary people. Prov 22:24-29
1 When you’re dining with a ruler,
consider carefully what he sets in front of you.
2 Put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
3Don’t crave very many of his delicacies;
they may be there to test you.
4 Don’t wear yourself out trying to get wealthy;
quit concerning yourself with riches.
5When you stare at wealth, it disappears;
it grows wings like an eagle and flies to the sky.
Prov 23:1-5
6 Don’t eat with stingy people
or crave their delicacies;
7what they think to themselves is what they really are:
they may tell you to eat up and drink,
but they don’t mean it!
8You’ll vomit the morsel you’ve eaten
and waste your compliments.
9 Don’t speak where fools can hear you;
they’ll despise the wisdom of what you say.
10 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker
or trespass in the fields of the fatherless,
11because their Rescuer is powerful;
he’ll sue you in court.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ears to knowledge.
Prov 23:6-12
13 Don’t withhold discipline from your children;
punishment won’t kill them.
14Use a switch on them
and deliver their souls from Sheol.
15 Son, if your heart’s wise, mine will be glad;
16 I’ll be happy when you become an honest man.
17 Don’t envy sinners;
always live in reverence for Yahveh.
18There most certainly is a future;
your hopes won’t be disappointed.
19Listen and be wise;
direct your heart on the right course.
Prov 23:13-19
20 Don’t pal around with heavy drinkers or big eaters;
21 drunks and gluttons end up poor,
and laziness will dress them in rags.
22 Listen to your father;
don’t look down on your mother when she’s old.
23Buy truth and don’t sell it;
get wisdom, instruction, and insight.
24 Parents delight in well-behaved children;
mature offspring make them happy.
25 Make father happy;
let her enjoy life who gave you birth.
Prov 23:20-25
26 Give me your heart, son;
observe my ways.
27A prostitute is a deep pit;
an immoral woman is a narrow well.
28She lurks around like a robber
and makes men unfaithful.
Prov 23:26-28
29 Who has misfortune? Who is sad?
Who has to cope with conflict?
Who complains?
Who is wounded for no reason?
Whose eyes are bloodshot?
30Those who linger long over wine,
who look around for mixed wine.
31Don’t gaze at wine when it’s red,
when it sparkles in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly.
32Afterward it strikes like a serpent;
it bites like a viper.
33You’ll have hallucinations
and say crazy stuff.
34You’re like somebody asleep, bobbing on the ocean
or swaying on the rigging of a ship.
35“They strike me, but it doesn’t hurt;
they beat me, but I don’t feel it.
When I wake up,