Proverbs 23:12-Proverbs 24:22 - Learning From Your Father

¹² Apply yourself to discipline
and listen to words of knowledge.

¹³ Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;
if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴ Strike him with a rod,
and you will rescue his life from Sheol.

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart will indeed rejoice.
¹⁶ My innermost being will cheer
when your lips say what is right.

¹⁷ Don’t let your heart envy sinners;
instead, always fear the Lord.
¹⁸ For then you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.
²⁰ Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine
or with those who gorge themselves on meat.
²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.

²² Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
²³ Buy—and do not sell—truth,
wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
²⁴ The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,
and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
²⁵ Let your father and mother have joy,
and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

²⁶ My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit,
and a stranger is a narrow well;
²⁸ indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber
and increases those among men who are unfaithful.

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason?
Who has red eyes?
³⁰ Those who linger over wine,
those who go looking for mixed wine.
³¹ Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,
when it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
³² In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.
³³ Your eyes will see strange things,
and you will say absurd things.
³⁴ You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.
³⁵ “They struck me, but I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn’t know it!
When will I wake up?
I’ll look for another drink.”

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¹ Don’t envy evil men
or desire to be with them,
² for their hearts plan violence,
and their words stir up trouble.

³ A house is built by wisdom,
and it is established by understanding;
⁴ by knowledge the rooms are filled
with every precious and beautiful treasure.

⁵ A wise warrior is better than a strong one,
and a man of knowledge than one of strength;
⁶ for you should wage war with sound guidance—
victory comes with many counselors.

⁷ Wisdom is inaccessible to a fool;
he does not open his mouth at the gate.

⁸ The one who plots evil
will be called a schemer.
⁹ A foolish scheme is sin,
and a mocker is detestable to people.

¹⁰ If you do nothing in a difficult time,
your strength is limited.
¹¹ Rescue those being taken off to death,
and save those stumbling toward slaughter.
¹² If you say, “But we didn’t know about this,”
won’t He who weighs hearts consider it?
Won’t He who protects your life know?
Won’t He repay a person according to his work?

¹³ Eat honey, my son, for it is good,
and the honeycomb is sweet to your palate;
¹⁴ realize that wisdom is the same for you.
If you find it, you will have a future,
and your hope will never fade.

¹⁵ Wicked man, don’t set an ambush,
at the camp of the righteous man;
don’t destroy his dwelling.
¹⁶ Though a righteous man falls seven times,
he will get up,
but the wicked will stumble into ruin.

¹⁷ Don’t gloat when your enemy falls,
and don’t let your heart rejoice when he stumbles,
¹⁸ or the Lord will see, be displeased,
and turn His wrath away from him.

¹⁹ Don’t be agitated by evildoers,
and don’t envy the wicked.
²⁰ For the evil have no future;
the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹ My son, fear the Lord, as well as the king,
and don’t associate with rebels,
²² for destruction from them will come suddenly;
who knows what distress these two can bring?