Bible-Reading.comProverbs 23
1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who is before thee;
2and put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3Be not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.
4Weary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:
5wilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.
6Eat thou not the food of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties.
7For as he thinketh in his soul, so is he. Eat and drink! will he say unto thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted thy sweet words.
9Speak not in the ears of a foolish man, for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11for their redeemer is mighty; he will plead their cause against thee.
12Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13Withhold not correction from the child; for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die:
14thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.
15My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine;
16and my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.
17Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day;
18for surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19Thou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.
20Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh.
21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags.
22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23Buy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.
24The father of a righteous man shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise son shall have joy of him:
25let thy father and thy mother have joy, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
26My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.
29Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes?
30-- They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.
31Look not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly:
32at the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;
34and thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down upon the top of a mast:
35-- ''They have smitten me, and I am not sore; they have beaten me, and I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.''
Proverbs 24
1Be not thou envious of evil men, neither desire to be with them;
2for their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.
3Through wisdom is a house built, and by understanding it is established;
4and by knowledge are the chambers filled with all precious and pleasant substance.
5A wise man is strong, and a man of knowledge increaseth strength.
6For with good advice shalt thou make thy war; and in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.
7Wisdom is too high for a fool: he will not open his mouth in the gate.
8He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a master of intrigues.
9The purpose of folly is sin, and the scorner is an abomination to men.
10If thou losest courage in the day of trouble, thy strength is small.
11Deliver them that are taken forth unto death, and withdraw not from them that stagger to slaughter.
12If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not, will not he that weigheth the hearts consider it? And he that preserveth thy soul, he knoweth it; and he rendereth to man according to his work.
13Eat honey, my son, for it is good; and a honeycomb is sweet to thy taste:
14so consider wisdom for thy soul; if thou hast found it, there shall be a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
15Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; lay not waste his resting-place.
16For the righteous falleth seven times, and riseth up again; but the wicked stumble into disaster.
17Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thy heart be glad when he stumbleth;
18lest Jehovah see it, and it be evil in his sight, and he turn away his anger from him.
19Fret not thyself because of evil-doers, and be not envious of the wicked:
20for there shall be no future to the evil man; the lamp of the wicked shall be put out.
21My son, fear Jehovah and the king: meddle not with them that are given to change.
22For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?
23These things also come from the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.
24He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous, peoples shall curse him, nations shall abhor him;
25but to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and a good blessing cometh upon them.
26He kisseth the lips who giveth a right answer.
27Prepare thy work without, and put thy field in order, and afterwards build thy house.
28Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and wouldest thou deceive with thy lips?
29Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me, I will render to the man according to his work.
30I went by the field of a sluggard, and by the vineyard of a man void of understanding;
31and lo, it was all grown over with thistles, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and its stone wall was broken down.
32Then I looked, I took it to heart; I saw, I received instruction:
33-- A little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to rest!
34So shall thy poverty come as a roving plunderer, and thy penury as an armed man.