Parallel Bible results for "proverbs 23"

Proverbs 23

English Standard Version ESV

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,

2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

3 Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.

5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,

7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

10 Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,

11 for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

14 If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.

15 My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad.

16 My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.

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

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

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

20 Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,

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

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

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

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

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

26 My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well.

28 She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind.

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

30 Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine.

31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

32 In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things.

34 You 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 must have another drink."

The Message Bible MSG

1 When you go out to dinner with an influential person, mind your manners:

2 Don't gobble your food, don't talk with your mouth full.

3 And don't stuff yourself; bridle your appetite.

4 Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself

5 Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.

6 Don't accept a meal from a tightwad; don't expect anything special.

7 He'll be as stingy with you as he is with himself; he'll say, "Eat! Drink!" but won't mean a word of it.

8 His miserly serving will turn your stomach when you realize the meal's a sham.

9 Don't bother talking sense to fools; they'll only poke fun at your words.

10 Don't stealthily move back the boundary lines or cheat orphans out of their property,

11 For they have a powerful Advocate who will go to bat for them.

12 Give yourselves to disciplined instruction; open your ears to tested knowledge.

13 Don't be afraid to correct your young ones; a spanking won't kill them.

14 A good spanking, in fact, might save them from something worse than death

15 Dear child, if you become wise, I'll be one happy parent.

16 My heart will dance and sing to the tuneful truth you'll speak.

17 Don't for a minute envy careless rebels; soak yourself in the Fear-of-God -

18 That's where your future lies. Then you won't be left with an armload of nothing.

19 Oh listen, dear child - become wise; point your life in the right direction

20 Don't drink too much wine and get drunk; don't eat too much food and get fat.

21 Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags. Buy Wisdom, Education, Insigh

22 Listen with respect to the father who raised you, and when your mother grows old, don't neglect her.

23 Buy truth - don't sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight.

24 Parents rejoice when their children turn out well; wise children become proud parents.

25 So make your father happy! Make your mother proud!

26 Dear child, I want your full attention; please do what I show you.

27 A whore is a bottomless pit; a loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.

28 She'll take you for all you've got; she's worse than a pack of thieves.

29 Who are the people who are always crying the blues? Who do you know who reeks of self-pity? Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all? Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot?

30 It's those who spend the night with a bottle, for whom drinking is serious business.

31 Don't judge wine by its label, or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor.

32 Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with - the splitting headache, the queasy stomach.

33 Do you really prefer seeing double, with your speech all slurred,

34 Reeling and seasick, drunk as a sailor?

35 "They hit me," you'll say, "but it didn't hurt; they beat on me, but I didn't feel a thing. When I'm sober enough to manage it, bring me another drink!"