{"meta":{"source":"Prime Bible","sourceUrl":"https://primebible.com","license":"Public domain (translation text); see citation policy at /citation-policy","organization":"501(c)(3) nonprofit — EIN 41-2531951","canonicalUrl":"https://primebible.com/erv/proverbs/23","llmTxt":"https://primebible.com/llms.txt","generatedAt":"2026-05-30T20:04:39.183Z"},"reference":{"translation":"ERV","book":"Proverbs","bookSlug":"proverbs","chapter":23,"testament":"OLD"},"navigation":{"previousChapter":22,"nextChapter":24,"totalChapters":31,"totalVerses":35},"verses":[{"verseNumber":1,"text":"When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently him that is before thee;"},{"verseNumber":2,"text":"And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite."},{"verseNumber":3,"text":"Be not desirous of his dainties; seeing they are deceitful meat."},{"verseNumber":4,"text":"Weary not thyself to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom."},{"verseNumber":5,"text":"Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven."},{"verseNumber":6,"text":"Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties:"},{"verseNumber":7,"text":"For as he reckoneth within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee."},{"verseNumber":8,"text":"The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words."},{"verseNumber":9,"text":"Speak not in the hearing of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words."},{"verseNumber":10,"text":"Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:"},{"verseNumber":11,"text":"For their redeemer is strong; he shall plead their cause against thee."},{"verseNumber":12,"text":"Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge."},{"verseNumber":13,"text":"Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die."},{"verseNumber":14,"text":"Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol."},{"verseNumber":15,"text":"My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall be glad, even mine:"},{"verseNumber":16,"text":"Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things."},{"verseNumber":17,"text":"Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long:"},{"verseNumber":18,"text":"For surely there is a reward; and thy hope shall not be cut off."},{"verseNumber":19,"text":"Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way."},{"verseNumber":20,"text":"Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh:"},{"verseNumber":21,"text":"For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags."},{"verseNumber":22,"text":"Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old."},{"verseNumber":23,"text":"Buy the truth, and sell it not; yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding."},{"verseNumber":24,"text":"The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him."},{"verseNumber":25,"text":"Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bare thee rejoice."},{"verseNumber":26,"text":"My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways."},{"verseNumber":27,"text":"For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit."},{"verseNumber":28,"text":"Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men."},{"verseNumber":29,"text":"Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?"},{"verseNumber":30,"text":"They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek out mixed wine."},{"verseNumber":31,"text":"Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it goeth down smoothly."},{"verseNumber":32,"text":"At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder."},{"verseNumber":33,"text":"Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thine heart shall utter froward things."},{"verseNumber":34,"text":"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."},{"verseNumber":35,"text":"They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again."}],"citation":{"inline":"Proverbs 23 (ERV)","markdown":"[Proverbs 23](https://primebible.com/erv/proverbs/23)","sbl":"Prime Bible. *The Bible.* ERV. https://primebible.com/erv/proverbs/23 (accessed 2026-05-30)."}}