The Proverbs 23

Text size

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 ⚑

King James Version (1769) with Apocrypha · Crosswire Bible Society / eBible.org (standard text of 1769) · Public Domain

Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · public domain