Proverbs 23

Chapter 23

¹—6— When you sit down to eat a meal with a ruler, be careful how you eat.

²Even if you enjoy your food, do not eat too much of it.

³Do not want his special food for yourself. He may be trying to deceive you.

⁴—7— Do not work so hard to become rich that you make yourself ill. Be wise and rest when you need to.

⁵Your money can disappear very quickly. It may seem to grow wings and then fly far away like an eagle .

⁶—8— Do not go and eat a meal with someone who hates to spend his money. His food may be good, but do not be greedy for it.

⁷He says, ‘Eat and drink as much as you want,’ but he does not really mean that. He is thinking about the cost of the food.

⁸Even if you only eat a little of his food, it will make you sick. All your nice words to him will be useless .

⁹—9— Do not speak to foolish people. They will think that your wise words are silly.

¹⁰—10— Never move a stone that has always shown the border of someone's land. Do not take for yourself the fields of people who have no family to help them.

¹¹God himself will be the relative who helps them. He will speak against you in court .

¹²—11— Listen carefully to your teacher and study well. Then you will learn knowledge .

¹³—12— Remember to warn your children when they do something wrong. If you punish them with a stick, you will not kill them.

¹⁴Punishment may save them from death.

¹⁵—13— My child, if you become wise, I will be happy.

¹⁶When I hear you speak true words, it will make me very happy.

¹⁷—14— Do not be jealous of sinners . Always respect the Lord and obey him in everything that you do.

¹⁸Then you will be happy in future days. What you hope for will surely happen.

¹⁹—15— Listen to me, my child. Learn to be wise and to live in a good way.

²⁰Do not be a friend of people who become drunk. Do not be a friend of greedy people who eat too much.

²¹People who are like that soon become poor. They sleep too much, and their clothes have holes in them.

²²—16— Listen to your father. You would not be alive without him. Continue to respect your mother when she becomes old.

²³Truth , wisdom , good teaching and knowledge are valuable things. Buy them for yourself. Do not sell them.

²⁴The father of a righteous person will be very happy. He will be proud of a wise child.

²⁵So make your father and your mother proud of you. Do things that will make your mother happy.

²⁶—17— Listen to me carefully, my son. Watch how I live.

²⁷Prostitutes are a dangerous trap for men. Women who are not faithful to their husbands can cause men to fall into danger, like a deep well.

²⁸They are like robbers who wait to attack people. They take more and more men away from their wives.

^29-30—18— People who drink too much wine have many problems. Do you see someone who is in trouble? Someone who is very sad? Someone who argues or complains all the time? Do you see someone with wounds on his body for no reason, or someone with red eyes? Then you are looking at someone who likes to drink wine until late at night. He is someone who likes to try different drinks.

³¹So do not even look at that beautiful red wine! Do not think about the pleasure it would give to you.

³²In the end, it will bite you, like a snake with its poison .

³³Your eyes will see strange things. Your mind will be confused so that you say crazy things.

³⁴You will roll about, like a man who tries to sleep on a ship in a storm.

³⁵You will say, ‘Somebody must have hit me, but I do not remember what happened. I need to wake up soon and have another drink.’