NETtext - 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 possess a large appetite.

23:3  Do not crave that ruler's delicacies, for that food is deceptive.

23:4  Do not wear yourself out to become rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.

23:5  When you gaze upon riches, they are gone, for they surely make wings for themselves, and fly off into the sky like an eagle!

23:6  Do not eat the food of a stingy person, do not crave his delicacies;

23:7  for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you;

23:8  you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten, and will have wasted 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 move an ancient boundary stone, or take over the fields of the fatherless,

23:11  for their Protector is strong; he will plead their case against you.

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

23:13  Do not withhold discipline from a child; even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

23:14  If you strike him with the rod, you will deliver him from death.

23:15  My child, if your heart is wise, then my heart also will be glad;

23:16  my soul will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

23:17  Do not let your heart envy sinners, but rather be zealous in fearing the LORD all the time.

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

23:19  Listen, my child, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right way.

23:20  Do not spend time among drunkards, among those who eat too much meat,

23:21  because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished, and drowsiness clothes them with rags.

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

23:23  Acquire truth and do not sell it - wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.

23:24  The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise child will have joy in him.

23:25  May your father and your mother have joy; may she who bore you rejoice.

23:26  Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes observe my ways;

23:27  for a prostitute is like a deep pit; a harlot is like a narrow well.

23:28  Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

23:29  Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness of the eyes?

23:30  Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine.

23:31  Do not look on the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

23:32  Afterward it bites like a snake, and stings like a viper.

23:33  Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will speak perverse things.

23:34  And you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging.

23:35  You will say, "They have struck me, but I am not harmed! They beat me, but I did not know it! When will I awake? I will look for another drink."