Proverbs 23

True Riches

(1 Timothy 6:17–19; James 5:1–6)

Saying 7

¹ When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

consider carefully what is set before you,^a

² and put a knife to your throat

if you possess a great appetite.

³ Do not crave his delicacies,

for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

⁴ Do not wear yourself out to get rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself.

⁵ When you glance at wealth, it disappears,

for it makes wings for itself

and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Saying 9

⁶ Do not eat the bread of a stingy man,^b

and do not crave his delicacies;

⁷ for he is keeping track,

inwardly counting the cost.^c

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you.

⁸ You will vomit up what little you have eaten

and waste your pleasant words.

Saying 10

⁹ Do not speak to a fool,

for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

Saying 11

¹⁰ Do not move an ancient boundary stone

or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹ for their Redeemer is strong;

He will take up their case against you.

Saying 12

¹² Apply your heart to instruction

and your ears to words of knowledge.

Saying 13

¹³ Do not withhold discipline from a child;

although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴ Strike him with a rod,

and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

Saying 14

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise,

my own heart will indeed rejoice.

¹⁶ My inmost being^d will rejoice

when your lips speak what is right.

Saying 15

¹⁷ Do not let your heart envy sinners,

but always continue in the fear of the LORD.

¹⁸ For surely there is a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise,

and guide your heart on the right course.

²⁰ Do not join those who drink too much wine

or gorge themselves on meat.

²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

Saying 17

²² Listen to your father who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³ Invest in truth and never sell it—

in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴ The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice,

and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

²⁵ May your father and mother be glad,

and may she who gave you birth rejoice!

Saying 18

²⁶ My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes delight in my ways.

²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit,

and an adulteress^e is a narrow well.

²⁸ Like a robber she lies in wait

and multiplies the faithless among men.

Saying 19

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has contentions? Who has complaints?

Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?

³⁰ Those who linger over wine,

who go to taste mixed drinks.

³¹ Do not gaze at wine while it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

³² In the end it bites like a snake

and stings like a viper.

³³ Your eyes will see strange things,

and your mind will utter perversities.

³⁴ You will be like one sleeping on the high seas

or lying on the top of a mast:

³⁵ “They struck me, but I feel no pain!

They beat me, but I did not know it!

When can I wake up

to search for another drink?”