Proverbs of Solomon 23

 Proverbs of Solomon 23

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you.

2 And put a knife to your throat if you are a glutton.

3 Do not desire his dainty food, for it is bread of lies.

4 Do not labor to get rich; give up your own wisdom.

5 Will you fix your eyes on that which is nothing? For it will surely grow into wings and fly away like an eagle to the sky.

6 Do not eat the bread of him who has evil eyes, nor desire his dainty food.

7 For as he thinks in his heart, so it is; he will say to you, 'Eat and drink,' but his heart will not be with you.

8 You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten and lose your sweet words. 

9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

10 Do not remove ancient landmarks, nor enter the possessions of the fatherless.

11 For their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

12 Apply your heart to discipline, and your ears to words of knowledge.

13 Do not withhold discipline from a child, for if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.

14 You will beat him with the rod and deliver his soul from hell.

15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will rejoice, even my own.

16 And my reins will rejoice when your lips speak right things.

17 Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the Lord all the day long. 

18 For there is indeed a good end; your hope will not be cut off.

19 Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.

20 Do not be among heavy drinkers of wine, nor among gluttons of meat.

21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will wear out the garments.

22 Listen to your father who gave you birth, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; wisdom, instruction, and prudence.

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, and he who begets a wise man will have joy in him.

25 Let your father and your mother be glad, and let her who gave you birth rejoice. 

26 Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways.

27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, and a strange woman a narrow well.

28 She also, like a robber, lies in wait and increases the wicked among men.

29 Whose are the woes? Whose are the sorrows? Whose are the fights? Whose are the complaints? Whose are the wounds without cause? And who have red eyes?

30 Those who linger over wine, those who go after mixed drinks.

31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

32 In the end it will bite like a snake and sting like a viper.

33 Your eyes will look at strange women, and your heart will speak perverse things. 

34 And you will be like one who sleeps in the middle of the sea, or like one who sleeps on the top of a mast. 

35 And you will say, 'They struck me, and it did not hurt; they beat me, and I did not feel it. When will I awake? I will seek her again.'