Proverbs 23:17-27

17 Let not your heart ¹envy sinners, but continue in ²the fear of the LORD all the day.

18 Surely ³there is a future, and your ⁴hope will not be cut off.

19 Hear, my son, and ⁵be wise, and ⁶direct your heart in the way.

20 Be not among ⁷drunkards^[a] or among ⁸gluttonous eaters of meat,

21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and ⁹slumber will clothe them with rags

22 ¹⁰Listen to your father who gave you life, ¹¹and do not despise your mother when she is old.

23 ¹²Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

24 ¹³The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

25 ¹⁴Let your father and mother be glad; let ¹⁵her who bore you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe^[b] my ways.

27 For a prostitute is ¹⁶a deep pit; ¹⁷an adulteress^[c] is a narrow ¹⁸well.

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Proverbs 23:17-27 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 11

This chapter relates the false steps Solomon took, notwithstanding all his wisdom, in marrying strange wives, and worshipping other gods, 1Ki 11:1-8 upon which the Lord threatens him to rend the kingdom in his son's time, 1Ki 11:9-13 and he raised up adversaries against him, Hadad, Rezon, and Jeroboam, 1Ki 11:14-26 of which last an account is given, and of his being assured by Ahijah the prophet of his having ten of the tribes of Israel given to him; which Solomon having notice of sought to slay him, 1Ki 11:27-40 and the chapter is concluded with an account of Solomon's death and burial, 1Ki 11:41-43.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 18

1. See Psalms 37:1
2. [Proverbs 28:14]
3. Proverbs 24:14, 20
4. Psalms 9:18
5. Proverbs 6:6
6. [Proverbs 9:6]
7. [ver. 29, 30; Isaiah 5:11, 22; Matthew 24:49; Luke 21:34; Romans 13:13; Ephesians 5:18]
8. Proverbs 28:7
9. [Proverbs 6:10, 11]
10. See Proverbs 1:8
11. [Proverbs 30:17]
12. [Proverbs 4:5, 7; Proverbs 18:15; Matthew 13:44]
13. ver. 15; See Proverbs 29:3
14. [See ver. 24 above]
15. Proverbs 17:25
16. [Proverbs 22:14]
17. See Proverbs 2:16
18. Psalms 55:23

Footnotes 3

[a]. Hebrew those who drink too much wine
[b]. Or delight in
[c]. Hebrew a foreign woman

The English Standard Version is published with the permission of Good News Publishers.