Proverbs

Proverbs 23

Various observations of moral virtues and their contrary vices.


1WHEN athou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

a Ge. 43.16,33,34. 1Sa. 9.22. Jude 12.

2And bput a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

b Mat. 18.8,22. 1Co. 9.27.

3cBe not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful *meat.

*meat-food of any kind.

c Da. 1.8. Lu. 21.34. Phi. 4.5.

4dLabour not to be rich: ecease from thine own wisdom.

d ch. 15.27; 28.20. Jn. 6.27. 1Ti. 6.8-10. Mat. 6.19. He. 13.5. e ch. 26.12; 3.5,7. Ro. 12.16; 11.25.

51Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that fwhich is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

1Heb. Wilt thou cause thine eyes to fly upon.

f 1Co. 7.31. Ec. 1.2; 12.8. 1Ti. 6.17. Ps. 62.10. ch. 27.24.

6gEat thou not the bread of him that hath an hevil eye, neither desire thou his dainty *meats:

*meat-food of any kind.

g Ps. 141.4. Da. 1.10. h ch. 28.22. De. 15.9. Mat. 20.15. Mar. 7.22.

7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: iEat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

i Ps. 12.2; 55.21.

8The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou jvomit up, and klose thy sweet words.

j ch. 25.16. k ch. 9.8.

9lSpeak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

l ch. 9.8; 13.1; 26.4,5. Mat. 7.6.

10mRemove not the old 2landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

2Or, bound.

m De. 19.14; 27.17. ch. 22.28. Is. 5.8.

11For ntheir redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

n Job 31.21,22. ch. 22.23. Je. 50.34; 51.36. Ps. 12.5.

12oApply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

o ch. 2.1,2; 22.17-19. Eze. 33.21. Mat. 13.33. Ja. 1.21. Is. 55.3. Re. 2.7,29.

13pWithhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.

p ch. 13.24; 19.18; 22.15; 29.15-17. 1Co. 5.5. 2Co. 10.4. Ep. 6.4. Re. 3.19. He. 12.5-11.

14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt qdeliver his soul from hell.

q 1Co. 5.5.

15rMy son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, 3even mine.

3Or, even I will rejoice.

r ch. 29.3; 10.1; 15.20. 1Th. 2.20.

16Yea, smy *reins shall rejoice, twhen thy lips speak right things.

*reins-mind, inmost being (literally, kidneys).

s Ps. 7.9; 73.21. t Ja. 3.2. Ep. 5.4. Col. 4.4. 3Jn. 4.

17uLet not thine heart envy sinners: vbut be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

u Ps. 37.1-3,7; 73.3,17. ch. 3.31; 24.1. v Ps. 4.4. He. 12.28. ch. 28.14.

18For wsurely there is an 4end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

4Or, reward.

w ch. 24.14. Je. 29.11. Ps. 9.18; 62.5; 37.37. He. 10.35; 6.19. Lu. 16.25.

19xHear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

x v.12,23,26. ch. 4.1,10,23.

20yBe not among winebibbers; among *riotous eaters 5of flesh:

*riotous-worthless, gluttonous.

5Heb. of their flesh.

y Ro. 13.13. Ep. 5.18. Is. 5.11,22; 22.12,13. Mat. 24.49. Lu. 21.34.

21For zthe drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

z Lu. 21.34. ch. 10.5; 6.9,10; 21.17. Re. 3.17.

22aHearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

a ch. 1.8; 2.1; 3.1; 4.1; 6.20; 30.17. Ep. 6.1,2.

23bBuy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

b Is. 55.1. ch. 4.5,7; 2.2-4. Mat. 13.44,46. Re. 3.18. Jude 3. Phi. 3.7-9. Ps. 119.72,111,127,162.

24The cfather of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

c ch. 10.1; 15.20. v.15,16. Ps. 127.3-5; 144.12. Is. 44.3-5. 1Th. 2.20. 2Jn. 4. 3Jn. 4.

25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and dshe that bare thee shall rejoice.

d ch. 17.25.

26My son, egive me thine heart, and flet thine eyes observe my ways.

e Ps. 119.2. Is. 44.5; 1.18; 55.1-3,7. 2Co. 8.5. f Ps. 119.9,11; 107.43. 2Pe. 1.19. Jn. 5.39. Is. 8.20.

27For ga whore is a deep ditch; and a *strange woman is a narrow pit.

*strange-foreign.

g ch. 22.14; 2.16,19; 5.5-11; 6.24,26. Ec. 7.26.

28She halso lieth in wait 6as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

6Or, as a robber.

h ch. 7.12,13; 9.14-16; 7.26. Ec. 7.26.

29Who ihath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

i Is. 5.11,12,22; 28.1,3. Hab. 2.5. v.21. ch. 20.1. Mat. 24.49. Ep. 5.18. Le. 17.2. 1Co. 6.9,10. Ga. 5.21.

30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

31jLook not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

j 1Th. 5.22. ch. 4.14,15. Job 31.1. Mat. 5.28.

32At kthe last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like 7an adder.

7Or, a cockatrice.

k Ro. 6.21. Lu. 21.34. v.29. Is. 28.1,3; 1.20.

33 lThine eyes shall behold *strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

*strange-foreign.

l Eze. 16.26-29. Re. 17.4,5.

34Yea, mthou shalt be as he that lieth down 8in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

8Heb. in the heart of the sea.

m Ps. 107.26,27. Is. 1.3; 42.23,25.

35They nhave stricken me, shalt thou say , and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and 9I ofelt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

9Heb. I knew it not, Je. 5.3. Ep. 4.18.

n Je. 5.3. o Is. 56.12; 22.13; 1.5. De. 29.19. 1Co. 15.32-34.