The learner is warned to be discerning when dining with a ruler. He must note what is before him and put a knife to his throat if given to gluttony. The ruler's delicacies are deceptive food, meaning appetite, ambition, and social advancement can trap the undiscerning.
Proverbs 23:1-3
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before you;
2 put a knife to your throat, if you are a man given to appetite.
3 Don’t be desirous of his dainties, since they are deceitful food.
The learner is commanded not to wear himself out to get rich and not to trust his own cleverness. Wealth is unstable and can vanish like an eagle flying into the sky.
Proverbs 23:4-5
4 Don’t weary yourself to be rich. In your wisdom, show restraint.
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.
The learner is warned not to eat the food of a stingy host or crave his delicacies, for his heart is not with the guest. The pleasant words conceal resentment, making the meal corrupt. The learner is also warned not to speak to fools who despise prudent words. He must not move ancient boundary stones or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, because their Defender is strong and will take up their case.
6 Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye, and don’t crave his delicacies:
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 The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up, and lose your good words.
9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their Defender is strong. He will plead their case against you.
The learner is commanded to apply the heart to instruction and the ears to words of knowledge. Discipline must not be withheld from a child; corrective discipline is presented as rescue from death, not as harm.
12 Apply your heart to instruction, and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Don’t withhold correction from a child. If you punish him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Punish him with the rod, and save his soul from Sheol.
The father speaks tenderly, saying that his heart will rejoice if the son's heart is wise and his lips speak what is right. The learner must not envy sinners but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD. There is a future hope, and that hope will not be cut off.
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart will be glad, even mine.
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
Proverbs 23:17-18
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners, but rather fear Yahweh all day long.
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope, and your hope will not be cut off.
The learner is told to listen, be wise, and set his heart on the right path. He must not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat, because drunkards and gluttons become poor. He must listen to his father, not despise his mother when she is old, buy the truth and not sell it, and value wisdom, instruction, and insight. Wise and righteous children bring deep joy to parents.
Proverbs 23:19-21
19 Listen, my son, and be wise, and keep your heart on the right path!
20 Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine, or those who gorge themselves on meat:
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor; and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Proverbs 23:22-25
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and don’t sell it. Get wisdom, discipline, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous has great joy. Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad! Let her who bore you rejoice!
The father asks for the son's heart and calls his eyes to delight in his ways. The prostitute is a deep pit, and the adulterous woman is a narrow well. She lies in wait like a robber and multiplies the unfaithful.
Proverbs 23:26-28
26 My son, give me your heart; and let your eyes keep in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber, and increases the unfaithful among men.
The chapter closes with an extended vivid warning against drunkenness. Wine appears attractive, sparkling and smooth, but in the end it bites like a snake and poisons like a viper. Drunkenness produces sorrow, strife, complaints, wounds, hallucination, numbness, and compulsive return to the bottle.
Proverbs 23:29-35
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who stay long at the wine; those who go to seek out mixed wine.
31 Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly.
32 In the end, it bites like a snake, and poisons like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will imagine confusing things.
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 “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 can find another.”