Proverbs 23:1-35 AMP

[1] When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is [set] before you; [2] For you will put a knife to your throat If you are a man of great appetite. [3] Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food [offered to you with questionable motives]. [4] Do not weary yourself [with the overwhelming desire] to gain wealth; Cease from your own understanding of it. [5] When you set your eyes on wealth, it is [suddenly] gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies to the heavens. [6] Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies; [7] For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior—one who manipulates]. He says to you, “Eat and drink,” Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost]. [8] The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, And you will waste your compliments. [9] Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he will despise the [godly] wisdom of your words. [10] Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property] And do not go into the fields of the fatherless [to take what is theirs], [11] For their Redeemer is strong and mighty; He will plead their case against you. [12] Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge. [13] Do not withhold discipline from the child; If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die. [14] You shall swat him with the reed-like rod And rescue his life from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead). [15] My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will also be glad; [16] Yes, my heart will rejoice When your lips speak right things. [17] Do not let your heart envy sinners [who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation], But [continue to] live in the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the LORD day by day. [18] Surely there is a future [and a reward], And your hope and expectation will not be cut off. [19] Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way [of the LORD]. [20] Do not associate with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat, [21] For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And the drowsiness [of overindulgence] will clothe one with rags. [22] Listen to your father, who sired you, And do not despise your mother when she is old. [23] Buy truth, and do not sell it; Get wisdom and instruction and understanding. [24] The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise child will have joy in him. [25] Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who gave birth to you rejoice [in your wise and godly choices]. [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 immoral woman is a narrow well. [28] She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey], And she increases the faithless among men. [29] Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Whose eyes are red and dim? [30] Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. [31] Do not look at wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the glass, When it goes down smoothly. [32] At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper. [33] Your [drunken] eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things [untrue things, twisted things]. [34] And you will be [as unsteady] as one who lies down in the middle of the sea, And [as vulnerable to disaster] as one who lies down on the top of a ship’s mast, saying, [35] “They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me, but I did not feel it! When will I wake up? I will seek more wine.”