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Proverbs 23

Proverbs 23 teaches the heart to prize wisdom and fear YHWH amid wealth’s appeal and appetites that destroy.

A teacher warns a son or pupil about eating at a ruler’s table, chasing wealth, and accepting hospitality from a stingy host. The counsel moves through protection of the fatherless, parental correction, and the joy of raising a wise child. Fear of YHWH sets the direction for the heart amid envy and desire. Warnings about sexual unfaithfulness lead into a vivid closing portrait of drunkenness: confusion, injury, and the urge to drink again.

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2put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.
3Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
4Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
5Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.
6Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies,
7for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
9Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
12Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.
15My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
16Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
17Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear the LORD all day long.
18Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
19Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
20Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;
21for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
22Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
26My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
27For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
32In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
33Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
34Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea, or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
35“They hit me, and I was not hurt! They beat me, and I don’t feel it! When will I wake up? I can do it again. I will look for more.”
World English BibleRead in NIV in Psalmlog →Highlighted verses are the most connected.
Key verses
Proverbs 23:19The appeal to keep the heart on the right path gathers the chapter’s warnings into a call for attentive wisdom.
Proverbs 23:4The command to restrain the pursuit of riches prepares for the image of wealth sprouting wings and disappearing.
Proverbs 23:17Fear of YHWH directs the heart away from envy and grounds the hope expressed in the next verse.
Where this chapter reaches

Psalm shares the concern about envying sinners, while Matthew and Luke share warnings about making wealth the heart’s pursuit. Deuteronomy shares the protection of boundary markers and the fatherless, and Ephesians shares the warning against drunkenness and its destructive effects.

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Notice

After reading the whole chapter

Which contrast between outward appeal and hidden cost stands out to you in these sayings?

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What might buying truth and refusing to sell it cost you in a current choice?

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Questions people ask about Proverbs 23

What does putting a knife to your throat mean in Proverbs 23:2?

The phrase is a startling figure of speech urging restraint when eating with a ruler. The surrounding verses warn that rich food can conceal motives and create obligations. The knife image stresses the seriousness of governing appetite; it is no instruction to injure yourself.

Does Proverbs 23:13–14 command physical punishment of children?

The rod refers to physical correction in the ancient household setting. These sayings present discipline as a means of keeping a child from a path toward death, called Sheol here. As wisdom sayings, they offer no guarantee that blows cannot kill and give no permission for abuse or injury.

What does Proverbs 23 say about drinking alcohol?

Verses 20–21 warn against keeping company with heavy drinkers, and verses 29–35 describe prolonged drinking and its consequences. Wine’s attractive appearance leads into images of venom, distorted perception, and injury. The closing speaker wants more despite being beaten. The passage targets drunkenness and the desire that sustains it.

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Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).