Headings in this style, and the references under them, were added by the translators to help you find your place. They are not part of the original text.
True Riches
(1 Timothy 6:17–19; James 5:1–6)
Saying 7
1When you sit down to dine with a ruler,consider carefully what is set before you,23:1FootnoteOr who is before you2and put a knife to your throatif you possess a great appetite.3Do not crave his delicacies,for that food is deceptive.
Saying 8
4Do not wear yourself out to get rich;be wise enough to restrain yourself.5When you glance at wealth, it disappears,for it makes wings for itselfand flies like an eagle to the sky.
Saying 9
6Do not eat the bread of a stingy man,23:6FootnoteLiterally of him whose eye is eviland do not crave his delicacies;7for he is keeping track,inwardly counting the cost.23:7FootnoteOr for as he calculates in his soul, so is he“Eat and drink,” he says to you,but his heart is not with you.8You will vomit up what little you have eatenand waste your pleasant words.
Saying 10
9Do not speak to a fool,for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Saying 11
10Do not move an ancient boundary stoneor encroach on the fields of the fatherless,11for their Redeemer is strong;He will take up their case against you.
Saying 12
12Apply your heart to instructionand your ears to words of knowledge.
Saying 13
13Do not withhold discipline from a child;although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.14Strike him with a rod,and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.
Saying 14
15My son, if your heart is wise,my own heart will indeed rejoice.16My inmost being 23:16FootnoteHebrew My kidneys will rejoicewhen your lips speak what is right.
Saying 15
17Do not let your heart envy sinners,but always continue in the fear of the Lord.18For surely there is a future,and your hope will not be cut off.
Saying 16
19Listen, my son, and be wise,and guide your heart on the right course.20Do not join those who drink too much wineor gorge themselves on meat.21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
Saying 17
22Listen to your father who gave you life,and do not despise your mother when she is old.23Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding.24The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice,and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.25May your father and mother be glad,and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
Saying 18
26My son, give me your heart,and let your eyes delight in my ways.27For a prostitute is a deep pit,and an adulteress 23:27FootnoteOr a foreign woman or a wayward wife is a narrow well.28Like a robber she lies in waitand multiplies the faithless among men.
Saying 19
29Who has woe? Who has sorrow?Who has contentions? Who has complaints?Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?30Those who linger over wine,who go to taste mixed drinks.31Do not gaze at wine while it is red,when it sparkles in the cupand goes down smoothly.32In the end it bites like a snakeand stings like a viper.33Your eyes will see strange things,and your mind will utter perversities.34You will be like one sleeping on the high seasor lying on the top of a mast:35“They struck me, but I feel no pain!They beat me, but I did not know it!When can I wake upto search for another drink?”
Footnotes in this chapter (5)
- 23:1 Or who is before you
- 23:6 Literally of him whose eye is evil
- 23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
- 23:16 Hebrew My kidneys
- 23:27 Or a foreign woman or a wayward wife
Scripture text: The Holy Bible, Berean Standard Bible (BSB), dedicated to the public domain. berean.bible