Proverbs 23 NKJV NLT Parallel

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◄ Proverbs 23 ►

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

1While dining with a ruler, pay attention to what is put before you.

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

2If you are a big eater, put a knife to your throat;

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

3don’t desire all the delicacies, for he might be trying to trick you.

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

4Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich. Be wise enough to know when to quit.

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

5In the blink of an eye wealth disappears, for it will sprout wings and fly away like an eagle.

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

6Don’t eat with people who are stingy; don’t desire their 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.

7They are always thinking about how much it costs. “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.

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

8You will throw up what little you’ve eaten, and your compliments will be wasted.

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

9Don’t waste your breath on fools, for they will despise the wisest advice.

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

10Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers; don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.

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

11For their Redeemer is strong; he himself will bring their charges against you.

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

12Commit yourself to instruction; listen carefully 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 fail to discipline your children. The rod of punishment won’t kill them.

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

14Physical discipline may well save them from death.

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

15My child, if your heart is wise, my own heart will rejoice!

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

16Everything in me will celebrate when you speak what is right.

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

17Don’t envy sinners, but always continue to fear the LORD.

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

18You will be rewarded for this; your hope will not be disappointed.

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

19My child, listen and be wise: Keep your heart on the right course.

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

20Do not carouse with drunkards or feast with gluttons,

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

21for they are on their way to poverty, and too much sleep clothes them in rags.

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

22Listen to your father, who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.

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

23Get the truth and never sell it; also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.

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

24The father of godly children has cause for joy. What a pleasure to have children who are wise.

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

25So give your father and mother joy! May she who gave you birth be happy.

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

26O my son, give me your heart. May your eyes take delight in following my ways.

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

27A prostitute is a dangerous trap; a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.

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

28She hides and waits like a robber, eager to make more men unfaithful.

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

29Who has anguish? Who has sorrow? Who is always fighting? Who is always complaining? Who has unnecessary bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

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

30It is the one who spends long hours in the taverns, trying out new drinks.

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

31Don’t gaze at the wine, seeing how red it is, how it sparkles in the cup, how smoothly it goes down.

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

32For in the end it bites like a poisonous snake; it stings like a viper.

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

33You will see hallucinations, and you will say crazy things.

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 stagger like a sailor tossed at sea, clinging to a swaying 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?”

35And you will say, “They hit me, but I didn’t feel it. I didn’t even know it when they beat me up. When will I wake up so I can look for another drink?”

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