Lockman - Bible questions and answers

		Prov 23:1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is [set] before you;
		Prov 23:2 For you will put a knife to your throat If you are a man of great appetite.
		Prov 23:3 Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food [offered to you with questionable motives].
		Prov 23:4 ¶ Do not weary yourself [with the overwhelming desire] to gain wealth; Cease from your own understanding of it. [Prov 28:20; 1 Tim 6:9, 10]
		Prov 23:5 When you set your eyes on wealth, it is [suddenly] gone. For wealth certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies to the heavens.
		Prov 23:6 ¶ Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies;
		Prov 23:7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he [in behavior--one who manipulates]. He says to you, "Eat and drink," Yet his heart is not with you [but it is begrudging the cost].
		Prov 23:8 The morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, And you will waste your compliments.
		Prov 23:9 ¶ Do not speak in the ears of a fool, For he will despise the [godly] wisdom of your words. [Is 32:6]
		Prov 23:10 ¶ Do not move the ancient landmark [at the boundary of the property] And do not go into the fields of the fatherless [to take what is theirs], [Deut 19:14; 27:17; Prov 22:28]
		Prov 23:11 For their Redeemer is strong and mighty; He will plead their case against you.
		Prov 23:12 Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge.
		Prov 23:13 ¶ Do not withhold discipline from the child; If you swat him with a reed-like rod [applied with godly wisdom], he will not die.
		Prov 23:14 You shall swat him with the reed-like rod And rescue his life from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).
		Prov 23:15 ¶ My son, if your heart is wise, My heart will also be glad;
		Prov 23:16 Yes, my heart will rejoice When your lips speak right things.
		Prov 23:17 ¶ Do not let your heart envy sinners [who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation], But [continue to] live in the [reverent, worshipful] fear of the LORD day by day.
		Prov 23:18 Surely there is a future [and a reward], And your hope and expectation will not be cut off.
		Prov 23:19 Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way [of the LORD].
		Prov 23:20 Do not associate with heavy drinkers of wine, Or with gluttonous eaters of meat, [Is 5:22; Luke 21:34; Rom 13:13; Eph 5:18]
		Prov 23:21 For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And the drowsiness [of overindulgence] will clothe one with rags.
		Prov 23:22 ¶ Listen to your father, who sired you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.
		Prov 23:23 Buy truth, and do not sell it; Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.
		Prov 23:24 ¶ The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise child will have joy in him.
		Prov 23:25 Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her who gave birth to you rejoice [in your wise and godly choices].
		Prov 23:26 ¶ My son, give me your heart And let your eyes delight in my ways,
		Prov 23:27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, And an immoral woman is a narrow well.
		Prov 23:28 She lurks and lies in wait like a robber [who waits for prey], And she increases the faithless among men.
		Prov 23:29 ¶ Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Whose eyes are red and dim?
		Prov 23:30 Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. [Prov 20:1; Eph 5:18]
		Prov 23:31 Do not look at wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the glass, When it goes down smoothly.
		Prov 23:32 At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.
		Prov 23:33 Your [drunken] eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things [untrue things, twisted things].
		Prov 23:34 And you will be [as unsteady] as one who lies down in the middle of the sea, And [as vulnerable to disaster] as one who lies down on the top of a ship's mast, saying,
		Prov 23:35 "They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me, but I did not feel it! When will I wake up? I will seek more wine."

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