Proverbs 23 — MSB
23Verse 1When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you,Verse 2and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.Verse 3Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.Verse 4Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.Verse 5When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.Verse 6Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;Verse 7for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.Verse 8You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.Verse 9Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.Verse 10Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,Verse 11for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.Verse 12Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.Verse 13Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.Verse 14Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.Verse 15My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.Verse 16My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.Verse 17Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.Verse 18For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.Verse 19Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.Verse 20Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.Verse 21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.Verse 22Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.Verse 23Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.Verse 24The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.Verse 25May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!Verse 26My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.Verse 27For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.Verse 28Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.Verse 29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?Verse 30Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.Verse 31Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.Verse 32In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.Verse 33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.Verse 34You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:Verse 35“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”