[[Proverbs 22|<< Proverbs 22]] | [[Proverbs|Proverbs]] | [[Proverbs 24|Proverbs 24 >>]] ### Proverbs 23 1 WHEN thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what _is_ before thee: ^1 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou _be_ a man given to appetite. ^2 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they _are_ deceitful meat. ^3 4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. ^4 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for _riches_ certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. ^5 6 Eat thou not the bread of _him_ _that_ _hath_ an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: ^6 7 For as he thinks in his heart, so _is_ he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart _is_ not with thee. ^7 8 The morsel _which_ thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. ^8 9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words. ^9 10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless: ^10 11 For their redeemer _is_ mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee. ^11 12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge. ^12 13 Withhold not correction from the child: for _if_ thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. ^13 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell. ^14 15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine. ^15 16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things. ^16 17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but _be_ _thou_ in the fear of the LORD all the day long. ^17 18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. ^18 19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. ^19 20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: ^20 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe _a_ _man_ with rags. ^21 22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. ^22 23 Buy the truth, and sell _it_ not; _also_ wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. ^23 24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begets a wise _child_ shall have joy of him. ^24 25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall rejoice. ^25 26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. ^26 27 For a whore _is_ a deep ditch; and a strange woman _is_ a narrow pit. ^27 28 She also lies in wait as _for_ a prey, and increases the transgressors among men. ^28 29 Who has woe? who has sorrow? who has contentions? who has babbling? who has wounds without cause? who has redness of eyes? ^29 30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. ^30 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it gives his colour in the cup, _when_ it moves itself aright. ^31 32 At the last it bites like a serpent, and stings like an adder. ^32 33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. ^33 34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lies down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lies upon the top of a mast. ^34 35 They have stricken me, _shalt_ _thou_ _say_, _and_ I was not sick; they have beaten me, _and_ I felt _it_ not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again. ^35