Parallel Bible results for "proverbs 23"

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Proverbs 23

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1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently what is before you;
1 When you go out to dinner with an influential person, mind your manners:
2 Put a knife to your throat, If you are a man given to appetite.
2 Don't gobble your food, don't talk with your mouth full.
3 Don't be desirous of his dainties, Seeing they are deceitful food.
3 And don't stuff yourself; bridle your appetite.
4 Don't weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint
4 Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself
5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
5 Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.
6 Don't eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, And don't crave his delicacies:
6 Don't accept a meal from a tightwad; don't expect anything special.
7 For as he thinks about the cost, so he is. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, But his heart is not with you.
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 The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, And lose your good words.
8 His miserly serving will turn your stomach when you realize the meal's a sham.
9 Don't speak in the ears of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.
9 Don't bother talking sense to fools; they'll only poke fun at your words.
10 Don't move the ancient boundary stone. Don't encroach on the fields of the fatherless:
10 Don't stealthily move back the boundary lines or cheat orphans out of their property,
11 For their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
11 For they have a powerful Advocate who will go to bat for them.
12 Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to the words of knowledge.
12 Give yourselves to disciplined instruction; open your ears to tested knowledge.
13 Don't withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
13 Don't be afraid to correct your young ones; a spanking won't kill them.
14 Punish him with the rod, And save his soul from She'ol
14 A good spanking, in fact, might save them from something worse than death
15 My son, if your heart is wise, Then my heart will be glad, even mine:
15 Dear child, if you become wise, I'll be one happy parent.
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice, When your lips speak what is right.
16 My heart will dance and sing to the tuneful truth you'll speak.
17 Don't let your heart envy sinners; But rather fear the LORD all the day long.
17 Don't for a minute envy careless rebels; soak yourself in the Fear-of-God -
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope, And your hope will not be cut off.
18 That's where your future lies. Then you won't be left with an armload of nothing.
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, And keep your heart on the right path
19 Oh listen, dear child - become wise; point your life in the right direction
20 Don't be among ones drinking too much wine, Or those who gorge themselves on meat:
20 Don't drink too much wine and get drunk; don't eat too much food and get fat.
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; And drowsiness clothes them in rags
21 Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row, in a stupor and dressed in rags. Buy Wisdom, Education, Insigh
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, And don't despise your mother when she is old.
22 Listen with respect to the father who raised you, and when your mother grows old, don't neglect her.
23 Buy the truth, and don't sell it: Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
23 Buy truth - don't sell it for love or money; buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight.
24 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
24 Parents rejoice when their children turn out well; wise children become proud parents.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
25 So make your father happy! Make your mother proud!
26 My son, give me your heart; And let your eyes keep in my ways.
26 Dear child, I want your full attention; please do what I show you.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; And a wayward wife is a narrow well.
27 A whore is a bottomless pit; a loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, And increases the unfaithful among men.
28 She'll take you for all you've got; she's worse than a pack of thieves.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
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 Those who stay long at the wine; Those who go to seek out mixed wine.
30 It's those who spend the night with a bottle, for whom drinking is serious business.
31 Don't look at the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly:
31 Don't judge wine by its label, or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor.
32 At the last it bites like a snake, And poisons like a viper.
32 Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with - the splitting headache, the queasy stomach.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, And your mind will imagine confusing things.
33 Do you really prefer seeing double, with your speech all slurred,
34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
34 Reeling and seasick, drunk as a sailor?
35 "They hit me, and I was not hurt; They beat me, and I don't feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I can find another."
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!"
The Hebrew Names Version is in the public domain.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.