CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Proverbs 23
Chapter 23 of 31
Chapter Overview
What happens in Proverbs 23
This chapter continues the 'Words of the Wise' with practical advice about self-control when dining with rulers, the foolishness of chasing wealth, respecting boundaries, disciplining children, honoring parents, and a vivid warning about the dangers of too much wine.
Scripture
Proverbs 23
Self-Control and the Danger of Greed
Study note
When eating with a ruler, be careful. The food may come with strings attached. Do not wear yourself out trying to get rich. Wealth can disappear as fast as an eagle flying away. Do not eat with a stingy person who counts every bite.
1 If you sit down to eat with a powerful person, pay close attention to what is going on. When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 Control your appetite even if you have to be extreme about it. And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Do not get excited about the fancy food on their table, because there may be strings attached. Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Do not exhaust yourself chasing wealth. Have the good sense to know when enough is enough. Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 The second you lock your eyes on money, it disappears. It practically grows wings and soars off into the sky like an eagle. 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 Do not accept a dinner invitation from a stingy person. Do not long for their fancy food. Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 Deep down they are adding up every dollar the meal is costing them. They tell you, "Help yourself, eat all you want!" but they do not mean a word of it. 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 That little bit of food you ate will come right back up, and all your polite compliments will have been completely pointless. The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
Boundaries, Discipline, and Wisdom
Study note
Do not waste your words on a fool. Do not move ancient boundary markers or steal land from orphans, because their Defender is strong. Apply your heart to instruction. Discipline your children, and do not let your heart be jealous of sinners. The future holds hope for those who fear the Lord.
9 Save your breath when talking to a fool. They will only mock the smart things you say. Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Do not move the old property boundary lines, and do not steal the land that belongs to orphans. Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 Their Protector is mighty, and he will personally fight against you on their behalf. For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Give your full attention to learning and keep your ears wide open for wise teaching. Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not hesitate to correct a child. Proper discipline is not going to destroy them. Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 The discipline you give them now will rescue them from a far worse fate. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15 My child, when you choose to live wisely, my own heart soars with happiness. My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Every part of me celebrates when the words that come out of your mouth are honest and true. Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Do not spend your energy envying people who sin. Instead, pour that energy into living with a deep respect for the Lord every day. Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18 Your future holds something good. The hope you are holding on to will not be snatched away. For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
Listen to Your Parents
Study note
The father pleads with his son to listen and keep his heart on the right path. He should avoid heavy drinkers and gluttons. He should buy truth and never sell it. The father of a righteous child will have great joy.
19 Listen up, my child, and choose the wise path. Keep your heart pointed in the right direction. Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Stay away from heavy drinkers and people who gorge themselves on food. Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 Drunks and overeaters always end up broke, and their laziness leaves them dressed in rags. For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Respect the father who raised you, and when your mother grows old, do not treat her as though she does not matter. Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Invest in truth and never sell it off. Buy wisdom, discipline, and understanding and hold on to all of them tightly. Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 A father whose child lives right will be bursting with joy. A parent whose child is wise will be deeply happy. The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Give your father and mother reasons to celebrate! Let the woman who brought you into this world be proud. Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
A Warning About Wine
Study note
This is one of the most vivid descriptions of drunkenness in all of literature. Who has sorrow, arguments, bruises, and red eyes? Those who spend too long drinking wine. It may look beautiful in the cup, but in the end it bites like a snake. The drunkard sees strange things, says foolish things, and does not even feel the blows. Yet they wake up and say, 'I will have another drink.'
26 My child, hand your heart over to me and let your eyes follow the example I set. My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 A sinful woman is like a pit so deep you cannot see the bottom. An unfaithful woman is like a narrow trap. For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She hides like a thief waiting to strike, and she adds more and more people to the list of the unfaithful. She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 So who ends up miserable? Who ends up in pain? Who is always in the middle of arguments? Who never stops complaining? Who has injuries they cannot explain? Who has red, bleary eyes? Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 It is the people who sit around drinking for hours, always going out looking for the next cocktail. They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Do not let yourself be hypnotized by wine, watching it glow red and sparkle in the glass, going down so easily. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 Because when it is all over, it strikes like a poisonous snake and stings like a viper. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Your eyes will start seeing things that are not there, and your brain will say things that make no sense. Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 You will feel like you are lying down in a rocking boat on the ocean. It will be like trying to sleep on top of a ship's mast. 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 punched me but I felt nothing! They roughed me up but I do not remember it! When is this going to wear off so I can go get another drink?" 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.
Key Themes
Themes in Proverbs 23
Self-control when surrounded by temptationThe fleeting nature of wealthHonoring your parents throughout lifeThe devastating effects of alcohol abuse
Apply This Today
Living Proverbs 23
Wealth can vanish as quickly as an eagle flying away, so do not exhaust yourself chasing it. Practice self-control in every area -- at the table, with money, and especially with alcohol. Invest instead in wisdom, truth, and the relationships that matter most.
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