The Table of Temptation and the Discipline of Wisdom.

Proverbs 23 warns against being ruled by appetite, greed, envy, and the deceptive appeal of sin, and instead calls the reader to disciplined wisdom, reverent fear of the Lord, and steadfast obedience. The chapter moves from the table of rulers to the house of instruction, showing that what appears desirable on the surface—rich food, quick gain, strong drink, or envy of sinners—often hides sorrow, bondage, and loss. It urges the son to receive correction, guard his heart, and listen to truth with seriousness, because wisdom is not ornamental but life-preserving. The chapter also honors godly parenting, showing the deep joy that comes when a child walks in truth and uprightness. Its purpose is to train the inner man to reject seduction, endure correction, and fix his hope on the fear of the Lord rather than fleeting pleasures.

Proverbs 23:1 – 23:35

  1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what [is] before thee:
  2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou [be] a man given to appetite.
  3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they [are] deceitful meat.
  4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
  5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for [riches] certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
  6 Eat thou not the bread of [him that hath] an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
  7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so [is] he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart [is] not with thee.
  8 The morsel [which] thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
  9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
  10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
  11 For their redeemer [is] mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
  12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
  13 Withhold not correction from the child: for [if] thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
  14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
  15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
  16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
  17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
  18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
  19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
  20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
  21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe [a man] with rags.
  22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
  23 Buy the truth, and sell [it] not; [also] wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
  24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise [child] shall have joy of him.
  25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
  26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
  27 For a whore [is] a deep ditch; and a strange woman [is] a narrow pit.
  28 She also lieth in wait as [for] a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
  29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
  30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
  31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, [when] it moveth itself aright.
  32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
  33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
  34 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.
  35 They have stricken me, [shalt thou say], [and] I was not sick; they have beaten me, [and] I felt [it] not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.