Day 201: Proverbs 23–24

1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:

2And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

3Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.

4Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.

5Wilt thou ^aset thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.

6Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:

7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

8The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

9Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

10Remove not the old ^blandmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

11For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.

12Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

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

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

15My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, ^ceven mine.

16Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

17Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

18For surely there is an ^dend; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.

20Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters ^eof flesh:

21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

22Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.

25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.

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

27For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28She also lieth in wait ^fas for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.

29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.

31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.

32At the last it biteth like a serpent, ^gand stingeth like an adder.

33Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.

34Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in ^hthe midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and ⁱI felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

1Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them.

2For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.

3Through wisdom is an house builded; and by understanding it is established:

4And by knowledge shall the chambers be filled with all precious and pleasant riches.

5A wise man ^ais strong; yea, a man of knowledge ^bincreaseth strength.

6For by wise counsel thou shalt make thy war: and in multitude of counsellors there is safety.

7Wisdom is too high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate.

8He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person.

9The thought of foolishness is sin: and the scorner is an abomination to men.

10If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is ^csmall.

11If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;

12If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

13My son, eat thou honey, because it is good; and the honeycomb, which is sweet ^dto thy taste:

14So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.

15Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place:

16For a just man falleth seven times, and riseth up again: but the wicked shall fall into mischief.

17Rejoice not when thine enemy falleth, and let not thine heart be glad when he stumbleth:

18Lest the LORD see it, and ^eit displease him, and he turn away his wrath from him.

19^fFret not thyself because of evil men, neither be thou envious at the wicked;

20For there shall be no reward to the evil man; the ^gcandle of the wicked shall be put out.

21My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with ^hthem that are given to change:

22For their calamity shall rise suddenly; and who knoweth the ruin of them both?

23These things also belong to the wise. It is not good to have respect of persons in judgment.

24He that saith unto the wicked, Thou art righteous; him shall the people curse, nations shall abhor him:

25But to them that rebuke him shall be delight, and ⁱa good blessing shall come upon them.

26Every man shall kiss his lips ^jthat giveth a right answer.

27Prepare thy work without, and make it fit for thyself in the field; and afterwards build thine house.

28Be not a witness against thy neighbour without cause; and deceive not with thy lips.

29Say not, I will do so to him as he hath done to me: I will render to the man according to his work.

30I went by the field of the slothful, and by the vineyard of the man void of understanding;

31And, lo, it was all grown over with thorns, and nettles had covered the face thereof, and the stone wall thereof was broken down.

32Then I saw, and ^kconsidered it well: I looked upon it, and received instruction.

33Yet a little sleep, a little slumber, a little folding of the hands to sleep:

34So shall thy poverty come as one that travelleth; ^land thy want as an armed man.