Proverbs
Chapter 23
1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, think carefully about what is in front of you.
2 If you love to eat too much, it’s better to put a knife to your own throat.
3 Don’t want his tasty food; it’s tricky to eat.
4 Do not work to become rich; stop relying on your own knowledge.
5 Will you focus on what is not? For sure, wealth grows wings and flies off like an eagle toward the sky.
6 Do not eat the food of someone with a greedy heart, and don’t crave their fancy dishes.
7 As a person thinks in their heart, so are they: They say to you, “Eat and drink,” but their heart is not with you.
8 You will throw up the food you ate and waste your nice words.
9 Don’t talk to a fool; they will scorn the wisdom in what you say.
10 Do not move the old boundary stones; and do not go into the fields of orphans.
11 Their protector is strong; he will defend their case against you.
12 Open your heart to learning, and listen to wise words.
13 Do not avoid disciplining the child: if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.
14 You should discipline him with a rod, and save his soul from death.
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be happy, even mine.
16 Yes, my heart will be glad when your lips say what is right.
17 Do not envy wrongdoers, but always respect God.
18 For sure, there is an end; and your hope will not be destroyed.
19 Listen, my child, be smart, and lead your heart on the right path.
20 Don’t hang out with heavy drinkers or those who eat meat to excess.
21 Drunk and overeaters will become poor, and being too sleepy will dress a person in rags.
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not disrespect your mother when she gets old.
23 Buy the truth and do not sell it; also buy wisdom, teaching, and insight.
24 The good person’s parent will be very happy; and the one who has a wise child will be joyful because of them.
25 Your father and your mother will be happy, and the woman who gave birth to you will be joyful.
26 My child, give me your heart, and let your eyes watch my ways.
27 A prostitute is like a deep hole; and a foreign woman is like a tight trap.
28 She waits like a hunter for her target and leads to more people doing wrong.
29 Who has sadness? Who has pain? Who has fights? Who has pointless talk? Who has injuries for no reason? Who has red eyes?
30 Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to look for mixed wine.
31 Don’t look at the wine when it’s red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
32 In the end, it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper.
33 You will see strange women, and your heart will say twisted things.
34 Yes, you will be like someone lying down in the middle of the sea, or like someone lying on the top of a sail mast.
35 You will say, “They hit me, but I wasn’t hurt; they beat me, but I didn’t feel it. When will I wake up? I will go back to it again.”