AFV2020 - Proverbs - 23

23:1  When you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you;

23:2  And put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.

23:3  Do not desire his delicacies, for they are the bread of lies.

23:4  Do not weary yourself to be rich; cease from your own wisdom.

23:5  When your eyes look upon it, it is gone! For surely riches make wings for themselves, and they fly into heaven like an eagle.

23:6  Do not eat the bread of him who has an evil eye, nor desire his dainty foods;

23:7  For as he thinks in his heart, so is he; "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

23:8  The morsel which you have eaten, you shall vomit up, and spoil your pleasant words.

23:9  Do not speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

23:10  Do not remove the old landmarks, and do not enter into the fields of the fatherless;

23:11  For their Redeemer is mighty; He shall plead their cause with you.

23:12  Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to the words of knowledge.

23:13  Do not withhold correction from a child, for if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.

23:14  You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from the grave.

23:15  My son, if your heart is wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.

23:16  Yea, my heart shall rejoice when your lips speak right things.

23:17  Do not let your heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the LORD all the day long;

23:18  For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope shall not be cut off.

23:19  My son, hear and be wise, and guide your heart in the way.

23:20  Do not be among those who drink much wine, among gluttons of flesh,

23:21  For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and sleepiness shall clothe a man with rags.

23:22  Hearken to your father who begat you, and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23:23  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 who begets a wise child shall have joy from him.

23:25  Your father and your mother shall be glad, and she who bore you shall rejoice.

23:26  My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways,

23:27  For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a wanton woman is a narrow pit.

23:28  She also lies in wait as for prey and increases the transgressors among men.

23:29  Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has fighting? Who has babbling? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

23:30  Those who stay long at the wine, those who go to seek mixed wine.

23:31  Do not look upon the wine when it is red, when it gives its color in the cup, when it goes down smoothly;

23:32  In the end it bites like an asp and stings like an adder.

23:33  Your eyes shall look upon strange things and your heart shall speak perverse things.

23:34  Yea, you shall be as one who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as one who lies upon the top of a mast,

23:35  Saying, "They struck me; I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When I awaken, I will seek it yet again."