Book of Proverbs, Chapter 23
Proverbs 23 ASV - American Standard VersionChapter 23 of Proverbs—American Standard Version (ASV)
- ¶ When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,
¶ Consider diligently [a]him that is before thee; - ¶ [b]And put a knife to thy throat,
¶ If thou be a man given to appetite. - ¶ Be not desirous of his dainties;
¶ Seeing they are deceitful food. - ¶ Weary not thyself to be rich;
¶ Cease [c]from thine own wisdom. - ¶ [d]Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?
¶ For riches certainly make themselves wings,
¶ Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven. - ¶ Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,
¶ Neither desire thou his dainties: - ¶ For [e]as he thinketh within himself, so is he:
¶ Eat and drink, saith he to thee;
¶ But his heart is not with thee. - ¶ The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,
¶ And lose thy sweet words. - ¶ Speak not in the hearing of a fool;
¶ For he will despise the wisdom of thy words. - ¶ Remove not the ancient landmark;
¶ And enter not into the fields of the fatherless: - ¶ For their Redeemer is strong;
¶ He will plead their cause against thee. - ¶ Apply thy heart unto [f]instruction,
¶ And thine ears to the words of knowledge. - ¶ Withhold not correction from the child;
¶ For [g]if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. - ¶ Thou shalt beat him with the rod,
¶ And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol. - ¶ My son, if thy heart be wise,
¶ My heart will be glad, even mine: - ¶ Yea, my [h]heart will rejoice,
¶ When thy lips speak right things. - ¶ Let not thy heart envy sinners;
¶ But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long: - ¶ For surely there is a [i]reward;
¶ And thy hope shall not be cut off. - ¶ Hear thou, my son, and be wise,
¶ And guide thy heart in the way. - ¶ Be not among winebibbers,
¶ Among gluttonous eaters of flesh: - ¶ For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;
¶ And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. - ¶ Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,
¶ And despise not thy mother when she is old. - ¶ Buy the truth, and sell it not;
¶ Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. - ¶ The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
¶ And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him. - ¶ Let thy father and thy mother be glad,
¶ And let her that bare thee rejoice. - ¶ My son, give me thy heart;
¶ And let thine eyes [j]delight in my ways. - ¶ For a harlot is a deep ditch;
¶ And a foreign woman is a narrow pit. - ¶ Yea, she lieth in wait [k]as a robber,
¶ And increaseth the treacherous among men. - ¶ Who hath [l]woe? who hath [m]sorrow? who hath contentions?
¶ Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause?
¶ Who hath [n]redness of eyes? - ¶ They that tarry long at the wine;
¶ They that go to [o]seek out mixed wine. - ¶ Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,
¶ When it sparkleth in the cup,
¶ When it [p]goeth down smoothly: - ¶ At the last it biteth like a serpent,
¶ And stingeth like an adder. - ¶ Thine eyes shall behold [q]strange things,
¶ And thy heart shall utter perverse things. - ¶ Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,
¶ Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast. - ¶ They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;
¶ They have beaten me, and I felt it not:
¶ When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
FOOTNOTES
- ^ Or, what
- ^ Or, For thou wilt put
- ^ Or, by reason of thine own understanding
- ^ Or, Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone: Hebrew Shall thine eyes fly upon it, and it is not?
- ^ Or, as one that reckoneth
- ^ Or, correction
- ^ Or, though
- ^ Hebrew reins.
- ^ Or, sequel. Or, future. Hebrew latter end.
- ^ Another reading is, observe
- ^ Or, as for a prey
- ^ Hebrew Oh!
- ^ Hebrew Alas!
- ^ Or, darkness
- ^ Or, try
- ^ Or, moveth itself aright
- ^ Or, strange women
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