Proverbs 23 — BSB

True Riches

Saying 7

23When you sit down to dine with a ruler,consider carefully what is set before you,⁺²and put a knife to your throatif you possess a great appetite.³Do not crave his delicacies,for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich;be wise enough to restrain yourself.⁵When you glance at wealth, it disappears,for it makes wings for itself
and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Saying 9

⁶Do not eat the bread of a stingy man,⁺and do not crave his delicacies;⁷for he is keeping track,inwardly counting the cost.⁺“Eat and drink,” he says to you,but his heart is not with you.⁸You will vomit up what little you have eatenand waste your pleasant words.

Saying 10

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

Saying 11

¹⁰Do not move an ancient boundary stoneor encroach on the fields of the fatherless,¹¹for their Redeemer is strong;He will take up their case against you.

Saying 12

¹²Apply your heart to instructionand your ears to words of knowledge.

Saying 13

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child;although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.¹⁴Strike him with a rod,and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

Saying 14

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise,my own heart will indeed rejoice.¹⁶My inmost being⁺will rejoicewhen your lips speak what is right.

Saying 15

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners,but always continue in the fear of the LORD.¹⁸For surely there is a future,and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise,and guide your heart on the right course.²⁰Do not join those who drink too much wineor gorge themselves on meat.²¹For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

Saying 17

²²Listen to your father who gave you life,and do not despise your mother when she is old.²³Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.²⁴The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice,and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.²⁵May your father and mother be glad,and may she who gave you birth rejoice!

Saying 18

²⁶My son, give me your heart,and let your eyes delight in my ways.²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit,and an adulteress⁺is a narrow well.²⁸Like a robber she lies in waitand multiplies the faithless among men.

Saying 19

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow?Who has contentions? Who has complaints?
Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?³⁰Those who linger over wine,who go to taste mixed drinks.³¹Do not gaze at wine while it is red,when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.³²In the end it bites like a snakeand stings like a viper.³³Your eyes will see strange things,and your mind will utter perversities.³⁴You will be like one sleeping on the high seasor lying on the top of a mast:³⁵“They struck me, but I feel no pain!They beat me, but I did not know it!When can I wake upto search for another drink?”