Proverbs 23

True Riches// 1 Timothy 6:17–19; James 5:1–6

Saying 7

¹When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

consider carefully what is set before you,

²and put a knife to your throat

if you possess a great appetite.

³Do not crave his delicacies,

for that food is deceptive.

Saying 8

⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself.

⁵When you glance at wealth, it disappears,

for it makes wings for itself

and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Saying 9

⁶Do not eat the bread of a stingy man,

and do not crave his delicacies;

⁷for as he thinks within himself,

so is he.

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you.

• PROV 23:7[HEART]A stingy man says eat and drink, but his heart is not with you. Words and heart can say two different things.
• PROV 23:7[TEXT]AS HE THINKS. This line follows the well known KJV, As he thinketh in his heart, so is he. The Hebrew word here is nephesh, soul or throat, not heart, and many Bibles today read it about a stingy host who is counting the cost of every bite. Either way, the next words say it plainly: his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up what little you have eaten

and waste your pleasant words.

Saying 10

⁹Do not speak to a fool,

for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

Saying 11

¹⁰Do not move an ancient boundary stone

or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their Redeemer is strong;

He will take up their case against you.

Saying 12

¹²Apply your heart to instruction

and your ears to words of knowledge.

Saying 13

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child;

although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

• PROV 23:13[NOTE]AHIQAR SAID IT TOO. An old Aramaic story has almost the same saying: if you strike a boy with a rod, he will not die. See The Ahiqar Papyrus in 2 Peter, and the Big Question Spare the Rod?

¹⁴Strike him with a rod,

and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.

Saying 14

¹⁵My son, if your heart is wise,

my own heart will indeed rejoice.

¹⁶My inmost being will rejoice

when your lips speak what is right.

Saying 15

¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners,

but always continue in the fear of Yahweh.

¹⁸For surely there is a future,

and your hope will not be cut off.

Saying 16

¹⁹Listen, my son, and be wise,

and guide your heart on the right course.

²⁰Do not join those who drink too much wine

or gorge themselves on meat.

²¹For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

Saying 17

²²Listen to your father who gave you life,

and do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³Invest in truth and never sell it—

in wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice,

and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.

²⁵May your father and mother be glad,

and may she who gave you birth rejoice!

Saying 18

²⁶My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes delight in my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit,

and an adulteress is a narrow well.

²⁸Like a robber she lies in wait

and multiplies the faithless among men.

Saying 19

²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has contentions? Who has complaints?

Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?

³⁰Those who linger over wine,

who go to taste mixed drinks.

³¹Do not gaze at wine while it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

³²In the end it bites like a snake

and stings like a viper.

³³Your eyes will see strange things,

and your mind will utter perversities.

³⁴You will be like one sleeping on the high seas

or lying on the top of a mast:

³⁵“They struck me, but I feel no pain!

They beat me, but I did not know it!

When can I wake up

to search for another drink?”