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


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Everything King James Bible:Proverbs
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on the Whole Bible
back to: Proverbs
Book: Proverbs
Chapter: 23

Overview:


1-3 God's restraints of the appetite only say, Do thyself No
harm. 4,5. Be not of those that will be rich. The things of
this world are not happiness and a portion for a soul; those
that Hold them ever So Fast, cannot Hold them always, cannot
Hold them long. 6-8. Do not make thyself burdensome to any,
especially those not sincere. When we are called By God to his
Feast, and to let our souls delight themselves, Isa 25:6;
55:2, we may safely partake of the Bread of Life. 9. It is
our duty to take all fit occasions to speak of Divine things;
but if what a Wise Man says will not be heard, let him Hold his
peace. 10,11. The fatherless are taken under God's special
protection. He is their Redeemer, who will take their part; and
he is mighty, almighty.

12-16 Here is a parent instructing his Child to give his mind
to the Scriptures. Here is a parent correcting his Child:
accompanied with Prayer, and blessed of God, it may prove a
means of preventing his Destruction. Here is a parent
encouraging his Child, telling him what would be for his good.
And what a comfort it would be, if herein he answered his
expectation! 17,18. The believer's expectation shall not be
disappointed; the End of his trials, and of the sinner's
prosperity, is at Hand.

19-28 The gracious Saviour who purchased Pardon and peace for
his people, with all the Affection of a tender parent, counsels
us to hear and be Wise, and is ready to guide our hearts in his
way. Here we have an Earnest Call to young people, to attend to
the advice of their godly parents. If the Heart be guided, the
steps will be guided. Buy the Truth, and sell it not; be willing
to part with any thing for it. Do not part with it for
pleasures, honours, riches, or any thing in this world. The
Heart is what the great God requires. We must not think to
divide the Heart between God and the world; he will have all or
none. Look to the rule of God's Word, the conduct of his
Providence, and the good examples of his people. Particular
cautions are given against sins most destructive to Wisdom and
Grace in the soul. It is really a shame to make a God of the
Belly. Drunkenness stupefies men, and then all goes to ruin.
Licentiousness takes away the Heart that should be given to God.
Take heed of any approaches toward this Sin, it is very hard to
retreat from it. It bewitches men to their ruin.

29-35 Solomon warns against drunkenness. Those that would be
kept from Sin, must keep from all the beginnings of it, and fear
coming within reach of its allurements. Foresee the Punishment,
what it will at last End in, if Repentance prevent not. It makes
men quarrel. Drunkards wilfully make woe and sorrow for
themselves. It makes men impure and insolent. The tongue grows
unruly; the Heart utters things contrary to reason, religion,
and common civility. It stupefies and besots men. They are in
danger of Death, of Damnation; as much exposed as if they slept
upon the top of a mast, yet feel secure. They fear No peril when
the terrors of the Lord are before them; they feel No pain when
the Judgments of God are actually upon them. So lost is a
drunkard to virtue and honour, So wretchedly is his Conscience
seared, that he is not ashamed to say, I will seek it again.
With good reason we were bid to stop before the beginning. Who
that has common sense would contract a habit, or sell himself to
a Sin, which tends to such guilt and misery, and exposes a Man
every Day to the danger of dying insensible, and awaking in
Hell? Wisdom seems in these chapters to take up the discourse as
at the beginning of the Book. They must be considered as the
words of Christ to the sinner.

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