Proverbs 23:15-35

15My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.1 16Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

17Let not thy heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long. 18For surely there is an end; and thy expectation shall not be cut off.2

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way. 20Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh:3 21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. 22Hearken to thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. 23Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 24The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him. 25Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bore thee shall rejoice. 26My son, give me thy heart, and let thy eyes observe my ways. 27For an harlot is a deep ditch; and an adulteress is a narrow pit. 28She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.4

29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.5 33Thy eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter perverse things. 34And thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.6 35They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.7