Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Reflections on Proverbs 23

 Proverbs 23 (Contemporary English Version)
  1. When you are invited to eat with a king, use your best manners.
  2. Don't go and stuff yourself! That would be just the same as cutting your throat.
  3. Don't be greedy for all of that fancy food! It may not be so tasty.
  4. Give up trying so hard to get rich.
  5. Your money flies away before you know it, just like an eagle suddenly taking off.
  6. Don't accept an invitation to eat a selfish person's food, no matter how good it is.
  7. People like that take note of how much you eat. They say, "Take all you want!" But they don't mean it.
  8. Each bite will come back up, and all your kind words will be wasted.
  9. Don't talk to fools-- they will just make fun.
  10. Don't move a boundary marker or take the land that belongs to orphans.
  11. God All-Powerful is there to defend them against you.
  12. Listen to instruction and do your best to learn.
  13. Don't fail to correct your children. You won't kill them by being firm,
  14. and it may even save their lives.
  15. My children, if you show good sense, I will be happy,
  16. and if you are truthful, I will really be glad.
  17. Don't be jealous of sinners, but always honor the LORD.
  18. Then you will truly have hope for the future.
  19. Listen to me, my children! Be wise and have enough sense to follow the right path.
  20. Don't be a heavy drinker or stuff yourself with food.
  21. It will make you feel drowsy, and you will end up poor with only rags to wear.
  22. Pay attention to your father, and don't neglect your mother when she grows old.
  23. Invest in truth and wisdom, discipline and good sense, and don't part with them.
  24. Make your father truly happy by living right and showing sound judgment.
  25. Make your parents proud, especially your mother.
  26. My son, pay close attention, and gladly follow my example.
  27. Bad women and unfaithful wives are like a deep pit--
  28. they are waiting to attack you like a gang of robbers with victim after victim.
  29. Who is always in trouble? Who argues and fights? Who has cuts and bruises? Whose eyes are red?
  30. Everyone who stays up late, having just one more drink.
  31. Don't even look at that colorful stuff bubbling up in the glass! It goes down so easily,
  32. but later it bites like a poisonous snake.
  33. You will see weird things, and your mind will play tricks on you.
  34. You will feel tossed about like someone trying to sleep on a ship in a storm.
  35. You will be bruised all over, without even remembering how it all happened. And you will lie awake asking, "When will morning come, so I can drink some more?"

Following is a distillation of chapter 23:
  • Dining Invitations: Special care should be taken when dining with a ruler (a person of influence) or a stingy person. In the case of the ruler one should consider their setting and exercise decorum by not being gluttonous. Furthermore, be aware that there may be ulterior motives for wining and dining you. The concern for ulterior motives should also apply to dining at the invitation of a stingy person. His seemingly generous offer of food and drink is not genuine and his motives for offering them are suspect.
  • Pursuit of riches: Wearing oneself out in the pursuit of riches is not a worthy pursuit. Riches are uncertain and can take flight at any time like an eagle.
  • The allure of sin: Don't be fooled by the allure of sin. It is only an allusion. Whatever it seemingly offers will not last. For example, moving the boundary lines on someone's property to increase your own may seem a sure way to profit, but it will not pay. Those you take it from have an avenger who is the Lord and you cannot win against Him.
  • Instruction: One should not only pursue instruction, but should apply themselves to it. The ready source for instruction is one's parents. Hold dear their instruction, and give them joy by becoming wise, not to mention the benefit it will be to yourself. And parents, do not withhold correction from your children for fear of harming them. Rather than harming, it will rescue them. It will also bring you great joy when they become adults.
  • Drunkenness: Avoid drunkenness and gluttony. They are a sure road to poverty. Drunkenness in particular, will lead to woe, sorrow, conflicts, complaints, unexplained wounds, and red eyes.

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