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Proverbs

Chapter 23

Saying 7 and more

Proverbs 23 continues the 'words of the wise' with concentrated warnings about seductive tables, the futility of riches, stinginess, unreceptive fools, neglect of discipline, envy of sinners, gluttony, drunkenness, sexual temptation, and the stupefying deceit of wine. The chapter also pauses to celebrate parental joy in a wise child and to urge wholehearted attention to instruction, showing that wisdom must govern appetite, affections, and future hope.

As the twenty-third chapter of Proverbs, this passage advances the instructional sayings by turning from social prudence to the management of desire and discipleship. It teaches that wise life requires disciplined appetites, teachable hearts, patient hope, filial loyalty, and vigilance against pleasures that promise sweetness while ending in emptiness, bondage, or shame.

13 sections·247 words·~1 min read

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Proverbs 23

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vv. 1-3

Saying 7

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W1hen you sit down to dine with a ruler, 2and put a knife to your throat 3Do not crave his delicacies,

vv. 4-5

Saying 8

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D4o not wear yourself out to get rich; 5When you glance at wealth, it disappears,

vv. 6-8

Saying 9

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D6o not eat the bread of a stingy man, 7for he is keeping track, 8You will vomit up what little you have eaten

vv. 9

Saying 10

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D9o not speak to a fool,

vv. 10-11

Saying 11

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D10o not move an ancient boundary stone 11for their Redeemer is strong;

vv. 12

Saying 12

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A12pply your heart to instruction

vv. 13-14

Saying 13

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D13o not withhold discipline from a child; 14Strike him with a rod,

vv. 15-16

Saying 14

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M15y son, if your heart is wise, 16My inmost being will rejoice

vv. 17-18

Saying 15

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D17o not let your heart envy sinners, 18For surely there is a future,

vv. 19-21

Saying 16

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L19isten, my son, and be wise, 20Do not join those who drink too much wine 21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

vv. 22-25

Saying 17

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L22isten to your father who gave you life, 23Invest in truth and never sell it— 24The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, 25May your father and mother be glad,

vv. 26-28

Saying 18

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M26y son, give me your heart, 27For a prostitute is a deep pit, 28Like a robber she lies in wait

vv. 29-35

Saying 19

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W29ho has woe? Who has sorrow? 30Those who linger over wine, 31Do not gaze at wine while it is red, 32In the end it bites like a snake 33Your eyes will see strange things, 34You will be like one sleeping on the high seas 35“They struck me, but I feel no pain!

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Each section keeps the passage focused, adds summaries and cross references, and gives verse-level links.

  1. 01vv. 1-3Saying 7The seventh saying warns the hearer to exercise sharp self-restraint when dining with a ruler and not to crave luxurious delicacies that may mask ulterior motives. Wisdom here recognizes that appetite can be manipulated by status and abundance, so bodily discipline becomes a form of moral alertness.
  2. 02vv. 4-5Saying 8The eighth saying forbids exhausting oneself to become rich because wealth is transient and winged. It exposes riches as unstable enough to disappear in a glance, thereby redirecting the heart away from anxious striving and toward more durable wisdom.
  3. 03vv. 6-8Saying 9The ninth saying warns against eating with a stingy host whose hidden calculations make the meal relationally toxic. It teaches that outward generosity without inward largeness is deceptive, and that accepting such hospitality can leave one disgusted and empty.
  4. 04vv. 9Saying 10The tenth saying forbids speaking wisdom into the ears of a fool, since he will only despise the insight. It reminds the teacher that instruction must meet receptivity and that not every hearer honors what is true.
  5. 05vv. 10-11Saying 11The eleventh saying repeats the boundary-stone warning but now anchors it explicitly in the strong Redeemer of the fatherless. Wisdom protects the vulnerable not only by human fairness but by recognizing that God himself will litigate for them.
  6. 06vv. 12Saying 12The twelfth saying calls for the whole heart and ear to be turned toward discipline and knowledge. It compresses the chapter's larger burden into a single imperative: wisdom must be pursued with inward devotion rather than casual interest.
  7. 07vv. 13-14Saying 13The thirteenth saying urges parental discipline by insisting that the rod, rightly used, rescues rather than destroys. It views correction not as cruelty but as a severe mercy aimed at sparing a child from deeper ruin.
  8. 08vv. 15-16Saying 14The fourteenth saying imagines the father's deep rejoicing when the son becomes truly wise and upright in speech. It presents wisdom not as private achievement alone but as filial joy that reaches the inmost being of those who love the learner.
  9. 09vv. 17-18Saying 15The fifteenth saying warns against envying sinners and redirects the heart toward continual fear of the LORD because a real future remains for the faithful. It teaches that present appearances must be judged in light of God's enduring horizon, not the momentary allure of wicked success.
  10. 10vv. 19-21Saying 16The sixteenth saying calls the son to wisdom of heart and warns against joining drunkards and gluttons whose indulgence leads to poverty and shameful stupor. It shows that appetite without restraint devours not only resources but alertness and dignity.
  11. 11vv. 22-25Saying 17The seventeenth saying calls the son to honor father and mother, buy truth and wisdom at any cost, and live so as to give parents deep rejoicing. It presents filial listening and commitment to truth as inseparable, showing that family joy is bound up with moral seriousness.
  12. 12vv. 26-28Saying 18The eighteenth saying urges the son to give his heart and eyes to the teacher's way because sexual immorality is a deep and predatory trap. It presents the prostitute and adulteress as actively hunting fidelity, multiplying betrayal, and reducing strength through seduction.
  13. 13vv. 29-35Saying 19The nineteenth saying delivers the chapter's longest warning by asking who suffers the chaos attached to drunkenness and then answering: those who linger over wine. It traces wine's false beauty, snake-like bite, distorted perception, numb self-deception, and compulsive return, exposing intoxication as a cycle of pain masked as pleasure.
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