Proverbs 23
King James Version
23 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
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.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
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.
Proverbs 23
1599 Geneva Bible
23 1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, [a]consider diligently what is before thee,
2 [b]And put thy knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to the appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainty meats: [c]for it is a deceivable meat.
4 Travail not too much to be rich: but cease from thy [d]wisdom.
5 Wilt thou cast thine eyes upon it, which is nothing? for riches taketh her to her wings, as an Eagle, and flieth into the heaven.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an [e]evil eye, neither desire his dainty meats.
7 For as though he thought it in his heart: so will he say unto thee, Eat and drink: but his heart is not with thee.
8 Thou shalt vomit thy [f]morsel that thou hast eaten, and thou shalt lose thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 (A)Remove not the ancient bounds, and enter not into the fields of the fatherless.
11 For he that redeemeth them, is mighty: he will (B)defend their cause against thee.
12 Apply thine heart to instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 (C)Withhold not correction from the child: if thou smite him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt smite him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from [g]hell.
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, mine heart shall rejoice, and I also,
16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak righteous things.
17 (D)Let not thine heart be envious against sinners: but let it be in the fear of the Lord continually.
18 For surely there is an end, [h]and thy hope shall not be cut off.
19 O thou my son, hear, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the [i]way.
20 Keep not company with [j]drunkards, nor with [k]gluttons.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall be poor, and the sleeper shall be clothed with rags.
22 Obey thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy [l]the truth, but sell it not: likewise wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise child, shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me [m]thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.
27 (E)For a whore is as a deep ditch, and a strange woman is as a narrow pit.
28 (F)Also she lieth in wait as for a prey, [n]and she increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 To whom is woe? to whom is sorrow? to whom is strife? to whom is murmuring? to whom are wounds without cause? and to whom is the redness of the eyes?
30 Even to them that tarry long at the wine, to them that go, [o]and seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine, when it is red, and when it showeth his color in the cup, or goeth down pleasantly.
32 In the end thereof it will bite like a serpent, and hurt like a cockatrice.
33 Thine [p]eyes shall look upon strange women, and thine heart shall speak lewd things.
34 And thou shalt be as one that sleepeth in the midst of the [q]sea, and as he that sleepeth in the top of the mast.
35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, but I was not sick: they have beaten me, but I knew not, when I awoke: therefore will I [r]seek it yet still.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 23:1 Eat with sobriety.
- Proverbs 23:2 Bridle thine appetite, as it were by force and violence.
- Proverbs 23:3 For ofttimes the rich when they bid their inferiors to their tables, it is not for the love they bear them, but for their own secret purposes.
- Proverbs 23:4 Bestow not the gifts that God hath given thee, to get worldly riches.
- Proverbs 23:6 That is, covetous, as contrary a good eye is taken for liberal, as Prov. 22:9.
- Proverbs 23:8 He will not cease till he hath done thee some harm, and his flattering words shall come to no use.
- Proverbs 23:14 That is, from destruction.
- Proverbs 23:18 The prosperity of the wicked shall not continue.
- Proverbs 23:19 In the observation of God’s commandments.
- Proverbs 23:20 Hebrew, wine-bibbers.
- Proverbs 23:20 Hebrew, devourers of flesh.
- Proverbs 23:23 Spare no cost for truth’s sake, neither depart from it for any gain.
- Proverbs 23:26 Give thyself wholly to wisdom.
- Proverbs 23:28 She seduceth many and causeth them to offend God.
- Proverbs 23:30 Which by art make wine stronger and more pleasant.
- Proverbs 23:33 That is, drunkenness shall bring thee to whoredom.
- Proverbs 23:34 In such great danger shalt thou be.
- Proverbs 23:35 Though drunkenness make them more insensible than beasts, yet can they not refrain.
Geneva Bible, 1599 Edition. Published by Tolle Lege Press. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, without written permission from the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations in articles, reviews, and broadcasts.
