Proverbs 23:1-25 ▼

1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider well him that is before thee;

2 And put a knife to thy throat, If thou be a man given to appetite.

3 Be not desirous of his dainties; Seeing they are deceitful food.

4 Weary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom.

5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone; For riches certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties;

7 For as one that hath reckoned within himself, so is he: 'Eat and drink', saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.

8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words.

9 Speak not in the ears of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

10 Remove not the ancient landmark; And enter not into the fields of the fatherless;

11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause with thee.

12 Apply thy heart unto instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13 Withhold not correction from the child; For though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

14 Thou beatest him with the rod, And wilt deliver his soul from the nether-world.

15 My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine;

16 Yea, my reins will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things.

17 Let not thy heart envy sinners, But be in the fear of the LORD all the day;

18 For surely there is a future; And thy hope shall not be cut off.

19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thy heart in the way.

20 Be not among winebibbers; Among gluttonous eaters of flesh;

21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

22 Hearken unto thy father that begot thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; Also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.

25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bore thee rejoice.