Proverbs 23

1 When thou shalt sit to eat with a prince, consider diligently what is set before thy face:

2 And put a knife to thy throat, if it be so that thou have thy soul in thy own power.

3 Be not desirous of his meats, in which is the bread of deceit.

4 Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence

5 Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.

6 Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:

7 Because, like a soothsayer, and diviner, he thinketh that which he knoweth not. Eat and drink, will he say to thee: and his mind is not with thee.

8 The meats which thou hadst eaten, thou shalt vomit up: and shalt lose thy beautiful words.

9 Speak not in the ears of fools: because they will despise the instruction of thy speech.

10 Touch not the bounds of little ones: and enter not into the field of the fatherless:

11 For their near kinsman is strong: and he will judge their cause against thee.

12 Let thy heart apply itself to instruction and thy ears to words of knowledge.

13 Withhold not correction from a child: for if thou strike him with the rod, he shall not die.

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and deliver his soul from hell

15 My son, if thy mind be wise, my heart shall rejoice with thee:

16 And my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips shall speak what is right.

17 Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long:

18 Because thou shalt have hope in the latter end, and thy expectation shall not be taken away.

19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise: and guide thy mind in the way

20 Be not in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in their revellings, who contribute flesh to eat:

21 Because they that give themselves to drinking, and that club together, shall be consumed: and drowsiness shall be clothed with rags

22 Hearken to thy father, that begot thee: and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23 Buy truth, and do not sell wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24 The father of the just rejoiceth greatly: he that hath begotten a wise son, shall have joy in him.

25 Let thy father and thy mother be joyful, and let her rejoice that bore thee.

26 My son, give me thy heart: and let thy eyes keep my ways.

27 For a harlot is a deep ditch: and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28 She lieth in wait in the way as a robber, and him whom she shall see unwary, she will kill.

29 Who hath woe? whose father hath woe? who hath contentions? who falls into pits? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

30 Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups.

31 Look not upon the wine when it is yellow, when the colour thereof shineth in the glass: it goeth in pleasantly,

32 But in the end, it will bite like a snake, and will spread abroad poison like a basilisk.

33 Thy eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall utter perverse things.

34 And thou shalt be as one sleeping in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot fast asleep when the stern is lost.

35 And thou shalt say: They have beaten me, but I was not sensible of pain: they drew me, and I felt not: when shall I awake and find wine again?

Proverbs 23 Commentary

Chapter 23

Verses 1-3 God's restraints of the appetite only say, Do thyself no ( proverbs 23:4-5 ) this world are not happiness and a portion for a soul; those that hold them ever so fast, cannot hold them always, cannot hold them long. ( 6-8 ) . Do not make thyself burdensome to any, especially those not sincere. When we are called by God to his feast, and to let our souls delight themselves, Isa. 25:6 Isa. 55:2 |, we may safely partake of the Bread of life. Verse 9 . It is our duty to take all fit occasions to speak of Divine things; but if what a wise man says will not be heard, let him hold his ( proverbs 23:10-11 ) protection. He is their Redeemer, who will take their part; and he is mighty, almighty.

Verses 12-16 Here is a parent instructing his child to give his mind to the Scriptures. Here is a parent correcting his child: accompanied with prayer, and blessed of God, it may prove a means of preventing his destruction. Here is a parent encouraging his child, telling him what would be for his good. And what a comfort it would be, if herein he answered his ( proverbs 23:17-18 ) disappointed; the end of his trials, and of the sinner's prosperity, is at hand.

Verses 19-28 The gracious Saviour who purchased pardon and peace for his people, with all the affection of a tender parent, counsels us to hear and be wise, and is ready to guide our hearts in his way. Here we have an earnest call to young people, to attend to the advice of their godly parents. If the heart be guided, the steps will be guided. Buy the truth, and sell it not; be willing to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for pleasures, honours, riches, or any thing in this world. The heart is what the great God requires. We must not think to divide the heart between God and the world; he will have all or none. Look to the rule of God's word, the conduct of his providence, and the good examples of his people. Particular cautions are given against sins most destructive to wisdom and grace in the soul. It is really a shame to make a god of the belly. Drunkenness stupifies men, and then all goes to ruin. Licentiousness takes away the heart that should be given to God. Take heed of any approaches toward this sin, it is very hard to retreat from it. It bewitches men to their ruin.

Verses 29-35 Solomon warns against drunkenness. Those that would be kept from sin, must keep from all the beginnings of it, and fear coming within reach of its allurements. Foresee the punishment, what it will at last end in, if repentance prevent not. It makes men quarrel. Drunkards wilfully make woe and sorrow for themselves. It makes men impure and insolent. The tongue grows unruly; the heart utters things contrary to reason, religion, and common civility. It stupifies and besots men. They are in danger of death, of damnation; as much exposed as if they slept upon the top of a mast, yet feel secure. They fear no peril when the terrors of the Lord are before them; they feel no pain when the judgments of God are actually upon them. So lost is a drunkard to virtue and honour, so wretchedly is his conscience seared, that he is not ashamed to say, I will seek it again. With good reason we were bid to stop before the beginning. Who that has common sense would contract a habit, or sell himself to a sin, which tends to such guilt and misery, and exposes a man every day to the danger of dying insensible, and awaking in hell? Wisdom seems in these chapters to take up the discourse as at the beginning of the book. They must be considered as the words of Christ to the sinner.

Chapter Summary

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.