1When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is put before you:
2And put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to gluttony.
3Do not crave his delicacies; for they are deceptive food.
4Do not wear yourself out toiling to become rich; be wise enough to know when to quit your labors.
5Will you focus your eyes upon that which is fleeting? For riches certainly sprout wings and fly away like an eagle toward heaven.
6Do not eat the food of a stingy host, nor desire any of his dainty foods;
7For he is the kind that thinks in his heart how much it cost him. “Eat and drink”, he says to you; but his heart is not with you.
8You will vomit up what little you have eaten, and have waste your complimentary words.
9Do not speak to a fool; for he will despise your words of wisdom.
10Do not remove an old landmark, nor encroach upon the fields of the fatherless;
11For their Defender is mighty; He shall take up their case against you.
12Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of wisdom.
13Do not withhold discipline from a child; for if you punish him with a rod, he shall not die.
14Punish him with a rod, and you will shall save his soul from hell.
15My son, if your heart is wise, my heart shall be glad, indeed.
16Yea, my heart shall rejoice, when I hear you speak what is right.
17Do not envy sinners, but be in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18For surely there is future hope; and that hope shall not be disappointed.
19Hear, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart in the right path.
20Be Do not carouse with drunkards, or feast with gluttons;
21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and excess sleep shall clothe a man with rags.
22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy the truth, and do not sell it; as well as wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24The father of a righteous child shall greatly rejoice, and he that fathers a wise child shall have pleasure in him.
25Your father and your mother shall be glad, and she that gave birth to you shall rejoice.
26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.
27For an adulterous woman is a deep ditch; and a promiscuous woman is a narrow pit.
28She also lies in wait like a bandit, and increases the unfaithful among men.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has babbling? Who has wounds without cause? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30Those that linger long over wine and sample more mixed wine.
31Do not gaze upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
32In the end it bites like a snake, and stings like an adder.
33Your eyes shall behold strange things, and you will shall utter crazy things.
34You shall be like a sailor on a stormy sea, clinging to a swaying mast.
35You shall say, “They have hit me, but I didn’t feel it. When shall I awake? I will seek another drink yet again.” Proverbs 24 Easy Reader Bible: Purple Letter Edition © 2023 by Jim Musser. Used by Permission. All rights Reserved. Bible Hub |
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