Proverbs Chapter 23 - King James Version

1: When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2: And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3: Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4: Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5: Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6: Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7: For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8: The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9: Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10: Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11: For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12: Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13: Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14: Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15: My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16: Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17: Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18: For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19: Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20: Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21: For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22: Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23: Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24: The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25: Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26: My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27: For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28: She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29: Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30: They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31: Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32: At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33: Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34: Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
35: They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

© 1995-2012 United Church of God, an International Association | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use

Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. All correspondence and questions should be sent to info@ucg.org. Send inquiries regarding the operation of this Web site to webmaster@ucg.org.