Proverbs Chapter 23

Here is the Proverbs Chapter to Read for Today.

Feel free to reply after reading it with any insights or observations.

Proverbs, Chapter 23

23:1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him who is before you;

23:2 And put a knife to your throat, If you are a man given to appetite.

23:3 Don't be desirous of his dainties; Seeing they are deceitful food.

23:4 Don't weary yourself to be rich; Cease from your own wisdom.

23:5 Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For [riches] certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flies toward heaven.

23:6 Don't eat the bread of him who has an evil eye, Neither desire his dainties:

23:7 For as he thinks inside himself, so he is: Eat and drink, he says to you; But his heart is not with you.

23:8 The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, And lose your sweet words.

23:9 Don't speak in the hearing of a fool; For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

23:10 Don't remove the ancient landmark; And don't enter into the fields of the fatherless:

23:11 For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause against you.

23:12 Apply your heart to instruction, And your ears to the words of knowledge.

23:13 Do not withhold correction from the child; [For] if you beat him with the rod, he will not die.

23:14 You will beat him with the rod, And will deliver his soul from Sheol.

23:15 My son, if your heart be wise, My heart will be glad, even mine:

23:16 Yes, my heart will rejoice, When your lips speak right things.

23:17 Don't let your heart envy sinners; But [be] in the fear of Yahweh all the day long:

23:18 For surely there is a reward; And your hope will not be cut off.

23:19 Hear, my son, and be wise, And guide your heart in the way.

23:20 Don't be among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:

23:21 For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe [a man] with rags.

23:22 Listen to your father who begot you, And don't despise your mother when she is old.

23:23 Buy the truth, and don't sell it; [Yes,] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

23:24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he who begets a wise child will have joy of him.

23:25 Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who bore you rejoice.

23:26 My son, give me your heart; And let your eyes delight in my ways.

23:27 For a prostitute is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.

23:28 Yes, she lies in wait as a robber, And increases the betrayers among man.

23:29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

23:30 Those who tarry long at the wine; Those who go to seek out mixed wine.

23:31 Don't look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly:

23:32 At the last it bites like a serpent, And stings like an adder.

23:33 Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will utter perverse things.

23:34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, Or as he who lies on the top of a mast.

23:35 They have stricken me, [you will say], and I was not hurt; They have beaten me, and I did not feel it: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

(UPDV Translation - Copyrighted, Used By Permission. A raised + sign next to a word means plural.)
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Proverbs 23:4-5: "Don't weary yourself to be rich; cease from your own wisdom.  Will you set your eyes on that which is not? For [riches] certainly make themselves wings like an eagle that flies toward heaven."

Scattered throughout the Bible are some verses that APPEAR to endorse the pursuit of riches, contradicting the verse above. The mere fact that Jesus Christ Our Lord solemnly said that one "cannot serve God and mammon" should settle the matter once and for all. So what are we to make of those few scriptures that seem to support the personal pursuit of prosperity?

First of all, we should know that the Year of Jubilee in the Law of Moses prohibited the vast and vulgar accumulation of wealth that is always so prevelant among the greedy and always will be. Greed is clearly condemned in both the Old and New Testaments. It was condemned in the New Testament not only several times in specific circumstances, we should also understand that eating meat sacrificed to idols was a way to make important business connections. To refuse to do so meant a great loss of social standing. Hence, less money in the bank, for sure.

I have found that any scripture that appears to endorse the accumaltion of riches should be applied to those heavenly riches as v. 18 endorses. After all, how can one beat spending eternity walking on "streets of gold?"

Proverbs 23:10a: "Don't remove the ancient landmark;"

When I first recieved Christ and poured over my Bible every night back in 1968 as a 16-year-old young man, I used to wonder what this mysterious verse meant. It also appears in the next chapter of Proverbs as well as in Deuteronomy.

Now as I have grown older, I see very clearly what it applies to in the spritual sense. One could cite many examples today, but an obvious one involves marriage: the sacred union between a man and a woman. How many want to remove the ancient landmark in this vastly important area!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Similar Requests

Dear Heavenly Father In Jesus's Name Please bring me beautiful peace at night and many sweet pleasant and soo Godly dreams in place of these constant strange and troubling nightmares recently... Comfort me now Holy Spirit my comforter and Good Shepherd Jesus please be ever near to me for...
Replies
22
Views
240
  • Article Article
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." —Proverbs 27:23 Evening Thought Every wise merchant will occasionally hold a stock-taking, when he will cast up his accounts, examine what he has on hand, and ascertain decisively whether his trade is prosperous...
Replies
0
Views
47
  • Article Article
"Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks, and look well to thy herds." —Proverbs 27:23 Evening Thought Every wise merchant will occasionally hold a stock-taking, when he will cast up his accounts, examine what he has on hand, and ascertain decisively whether his trade is prosperous...
Replies
0
Views
44
Your donations for running this web site are greatly appreciated.

Click To Make A Donation

Forum statistics

Threads
1,944,603
Messages
15,436,317
Members
534,669
Latest member
Aeloillarr

Latest Blogs & Articles

Back
Top Bottom