---
title: "Proverbs 23 — World English Bible | Favorite Scriptures"
description: "Read Proverbs 23 in the World English Bible. Free Bible reading, no account needed. Browse books and chapters, then save favorite passages in your personal library."
last_updated: "2026-10-08"
doc_version: "1"
language: "en"
canonical: "https://favoritescriptures.com/bible/proverbs/23"
---

[Home](/)/[Bible](/bible)/[Proverbs](/bible/proverbs)/23

World English Bible

# Proverbs 23

[1](#verse-1) When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;

[2](#verse-2) put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite.

[3](#verse-3) Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.

[4](#verse-4) Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.

[5](#verse-5) Why do you set your eyes on that which is not? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky.

[6](#verse-6) Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies,

[7](#verse-7) for as he thinks about the cost, so he is. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

[8](#verse-8) You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.

[9](#verse-9) Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

[10](#verse-10) Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

[11](#verse-11) for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.

[12](#verse-12) Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.

[13](#verse-13) Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.

[14](#verse-14) Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.

[15](#verse-15) My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.

[16](#verse-16) Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.

[17](#verse-17) Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear the LORD all day long.

[18](#verse-18) Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.

[19](#verse-19) Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!

[20](#verse-20) Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat;

[21](#verse-21) for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.

[22](#verse-22) Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.

[23](#verse-23) Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.

[24](#verse-24) The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.

[25](#verse-25) Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!

[26](#verse-26) My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.

[27](#verse-27) For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.

[28](#verse-28) Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.

[29](#verse-29) Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?

[30](#verse-30) Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.

[31](#verse-31) Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.

[32](#verse-32) In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.

[33](#verse-33) Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.

[34](#verse-34) Yes, 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](#verse-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.”

[← Proverbs 22](/bible/proverbs/22)[Proverbs 24 →](/bible/proverbs/24)

World English Bible · Public domain

## Keep what speaks to you.

Create a free library to save passages, highlight verses, and keep your study notes together.

[Start your free library](/login?mode=signup)

## Sitemap

See the [complete sitemap](/sitemap.md).