Proverbs 23-24

23When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
²and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big appetite.
³Do not desire the ruler’s delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
⁴Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
be wise enough to desist.
⁵When your eyes light upon it, it is gone;
for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
⁶Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
do not desire their delicacies;
⁷for like a hair in the throat, so are they.
“Eat and drink!” they say to you;
but they do not mean it.
⁸You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
and you will waste your pleasant words.
⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
who will only despise the wisdom of your words.
¹⁰Do not remove an ancient landmark
or encroach on the fields of orphans,
¹¹for their redeemer is strong;
he will plead their cause against you.
¹²Apply your mind to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
¹³Do not withhold discipline from your children;
if you beat them with a rod, they will not die.
¹⁴If you beat them with the rod,
you will save their lives from Sheol.
¹⁵My child, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
¹⁶My soul will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
¹⁷Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but always continue in the fear of the Lord.
¹⁸Surely there is a future,
and your hope will not be cut off. ¹⁹Hear, my child, and be wise,
and direct your mind in the way.
²⁰Do not be among winebibbers,
or among gluttonous eaters of meat;
²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and drowsiness will clothe them with rags. ²²Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
²³Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who begets a wise son will be glad in him.
²⁵Let your father and mother be glad;
let her who bore you rejoice. ²⁶My child, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit;
an adulteress is a narrow well.
²⁸She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the number of the faithless. ²⁹Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?
³⁰Those who linger late over wine,
those who keep trying mixed wines.
³¹Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
³²At the last it bites like a serpent,
and stings like an adder.
³³Your eyes will see strange things,
and your mind utter perverse things.
³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
³⁵“They struck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I will seek another drink.”
24Do not envy the wicked,
nor desire to be with them;
²for their minds devise violence,
and their lips talk of mischief. ³By wisdom a house is built,
and by understanding it is established;
⁴by knowledge the rooms are filled
with all precious and pleasant riches.
⁵Wise warriors are mightier than strong ones,
and those who have knowledge than those who have strength;
⁶for by wise guidance you can wage your war,
and in abundance of counselors there is victory.
⁷Wisdom is too high for fools;
in the gate they do not open their mouths. ⁸Whoever plans to do evil
will be called a mischief-maker.
⁹The devising of folly is sin,
and the scoffer is an abomination to all. ¹⁰If you faint in the day of adversity,
your strength being small;
¹¹if you hold back from rescuing those taken away to death,
those who go staggering to the slaughter;
¹²if you say, “Look, we did not know this”—
does not he who weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who keeps watch over your soul know it?
And will he not repay all according to their deeds? ¹³My child, eat honey, for it is good,
and the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
¹⁴Know that wisdom is such to your soul;
if you find it, you will find a future,
and your hope will not be cut off. ¹⁵Do not lie in wait like an outlaw against the home of the righteous;
do no violence to the place where the righteous live;
¹⁶for though they fall seven times, they will rise again;
but the wicked are overthrown by calamity. ¹⁷Do not rejoice when your enemies fall,
and do not let your heart be glad when they stumble,
¹⁸or else the Lord will see it and be displeased,
and turn away his anger from them. ¹⁹Do not fret because of evildoers.
Do not envy the wicked;
²⁰for the evil have no future;
the lamp of the wicked will go out. ²¹My child, fear the Lord and the king,
and do not disobey either of them;
²²for disaster comes from them suddenly,
and who knows the ruin that both can bring? ²³These also are sayings of the wise:

Partiality in judging is not good. ²⁴Whoever says to the wicked, “You are innocent,”
will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations;
²⁵but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
and a good blessing will come upon them.
²⁶One who gives an honest answer
gives a kiss on the lips. ²⁷Prepare your work outside,
get everything ready for you in the field;
and after that build your house. ²⁸Do not be a witness against your neighbor without cause,
and do not deceive with your lips.
²⁹Do not say, “I will do to others as they have done to me;
I will pay them back for what they have done.” ³⁰I passed by the field of one who was lazy,
by the vineyard of a stupid person;
³¹and see, it was all overgrown with thorns;
the ground was covered with nettles,
and its stone wall was broken down.
³²Then I saw and considered it;
I looked and received instruction.
³³A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest,
³⁴and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
and want, like an armed warrior.

From the oremus Bible Browser https://bible.oremus.org v2.9.2 30 June 2021.