Proverbs 23 NKJV ISV Parallel

Bible > Proverbs > Proverbs 23

◄ Proverbs 23 ►

NKJV Parallel ISV [BSB CSB ESV HCS KJV ISV NAS NET NIV NLT HEB]

New King James Version

International Standard Version

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

1Whenever you sit down to dine with a ruler, carefully think about what is before you.

2And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite.

2Put a knife to your own throat, if you have a big appetite.

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

3Don't crave his delicacies, because the meal is deceptive.

4Do not overwork to be rich; Because of your own understanding, cease!

4Don't exhaust yourself acquiring wealth; be smart enough to stop.

5Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven.

5When you fix your gaze on it, it's gone, for it sprouts wings for itself and flies to the sky like an eagle.

6Do not eat the bread of a miser, Nor desire his delicacies;

6Don't consume food provided by a miserly person, and don't desire his delicacies,

7For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you.

7for as he thinks within himself, so he is. "Eat and drink!" he'll say to you, but his heart won't be with you.

8The morsel you have eaten, you will vomit up, And waste your pleasant words.

8You'll vomit up what little you've eaten, and your compliments will have been wasted.

9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

9Don't speak when a fool is listening, because he'll despise your wise words.

10Do not remove the ancient landmark, Nor enter the fields of the fatherless;

10Don't move ancient boundaries or invade fields belonging to orphans;

11For their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you.

11for strong is their Redeemer who will take up their case against you.

12Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to words of knowledge.

12Learn diligently, and listen to words of knowledge.

13Do not withhold correction from a child, For if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.

13Don't withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with a rod, he won't die.

14You shall beat him with a rod, And deliver his soul from hell.

14Punish him with a rod, and you will rescue his soul from Sheol.

15My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will rejoice—indeed, I myself;

15My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will greatly rejoice.

16Yes, my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak right things.

16My innermost being will be glad when your lips speak what is right.

17Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day;

17Never let yourself envy sinners; instead, remain in fear of the LORD every day,

18For surely there is a hereafter, And your hope will not be cut off.

18for there is surely a future life, and what you hope for will not be cut off.

19Hear, my son, and be wise; And guide your heart in the way.

19Listen, my son, and be wise, commit yourself to live God's way.

20Do not mix with winebibbers, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat;

20Don't associate with heavy drinkers or dine with gluttons,

21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

21because drunks and gluttons tend to become poor, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.

22Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

22Listen to the one who fathered you, and don't despise your mother in her old age.

23Buy the truth, and do not sell it, Also wisdom and instruction and understanding.

23Purchase truth, but don't sell it; store up wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

24The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who begets a wise child will delight in him.

24The father of a righteous person will greatly rejoice; whoever fathers a wise son will be glad because of him.

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

25Let your father and mother rejoice; make the one who gave birth to you happy.

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

26Give me your heart, my son, and keep your eyes fixed on my ways,

27For a harlot is a deep pit, And a seductress is a narrow well.

27because a prostitute is a deep pit, and the adulterous woman a narrow well.

28She also lies in wait as for a victim, And increases the unfaithful among men.

28Surely she lies in wait like a bandit, increasing those who are faithless among mankind.

29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

29Who has woe? Who has grief? Who has contention? Who has complaints? Who has wounds without cause? Who has bloodshot eyes?

30Those who linger long at the wine, Those who go in search of mixed wine.

30Those who linger over their wine, who consume mixed drinks.

31Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it swirls around smoothly;

31Don't stare into red wine, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.

32At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like a viper.

32Eventually it will bite like a snake and sting like a serpent.

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

33Your eyes will see strange things, and with slurred words you'll speak what you really believe.

34Yes, you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or like one who lies at the top of the mast, saying:

34You will be like someone who lies down in the sea, or like someone who sleeps on top of a mast.

35“They have struck me, but I was not hurt; They have beaten me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake, that I may seek another drink?”

35"They struck me," you will say, "but I never felt it. They beat me, but I never knew it When will I wake up? I want another drink."

Bible Hub