The Proverbs (WEB)

23: 1When you sit to eat with a ruler,
      Consider diligently what is before you;

 ^23:2Put a knife to your throat,
      If you are a man given to appetite.

 ^23:3Don't be desirous of his dainties,
      Seeing they are deceitful food.

 ^23:4Don't weary yourself to be rich.
      In your wisdom, show restraint.

 ^23:5Why do you set your eyes on that which is not?
      For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

 ^23:6Don't eat the food of him who has a stingy eye,
      And don't crave his delicacies:
      ^23:7For as he thinks about the cost, so he is.
      "Eat and drink!" he says to you,
      But his heart is not with you.

 ^23:8The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up,
      And lose your good words.

 ^23:9Don't speak in the ears of a fool,
      For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

 ^23:10Don't move the ancient boundary stone.
      Don't encroach on the fields of the fatherless:

 ^23:11For their Defender is strong.
      He will plead their case against you.

 ^23:12Apply your heart to instruction,
      And your ears to the words of knowledge.

 ^23:13Don't withhold correction from a child.
      If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

 ^23:14Punish him with the rod,
      And save his soul from Sheol.

 ^23:15My son, if your heart is wise,
      Then my heart will be glad, even mine:

 ^23:16Yes, my heart will rejoice,
      When your lips speak what is right.

 ^23:17Don't let your heart envy sinners;
      But rather fear Yahweh all the day long.

 ^23:18Indeed surely there is a future hope,
      And your hope will not be cut off.

 ^23:19Listen, my son, and be wise,
      And keep your heart on the right path!

 ^23:20Don't be among ones drinking too much wine,
      Or those who gorge themselves on meat:

 ^23:21For the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor;
      And drowsiness clothes them in rags.

 ^23:22Listen to your father who gave you life,
      And don't despise your mother when she is old.

 ^23:23Buy the truth, and don't sell it:
      Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

 ^23:24The father of the righteous has great joy.
      Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.

 ^23:25Let your father and your mother be glad!
      Let her who bore you rejoice!

 ^23:26My son, give me your heart;
      And let your eyes keep in my ways.

 ^23:27For a prostitute is a deep pit;
      And a wayward wife is a narrow well.

 ^23:28Yes, she lies in wait like a robber,
      And increases the unfaithful among men.

  ^23:29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife?
      Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

 ^23:30Those who stay long at the wine;
      Those who go to seek out mixed wine.

 ^23:31Don't look at the wine when it is red,

 When it sparkles in the cup,
      When it goes down smoothly:

 ^23:32At the last it bites like a snake,
      And poisons like a viper.

 ^23:33Your eyes will see strange things,
      And your mind will imagine confusing things.

 ^23:34Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea,
      Or as he who lies on top of the rigging:

 ^23:35"They hit me, and I was not hurt;
      They beat me, and I don't feel it!
      When will I wake up? I can do it again.
      I can find another."
      

 

World English Bible