Bible Chapter Summary
Proverbs 23 Summary
Warnings Against Excess and Folly
The chapter warns against pursuing wealth and coveting a ruler's food, as riches have wings and fly away. Discipline and instruction are essential for children and must not be withheld. The chapter also condemns drunkenness, gluttony, adultery, and the seduction of harlots, which bring destruction and sorrow.
Key themes
Key verses
Proverbs 23:4-5
“Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.”
Proverbs 23:13-14
“Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.”
Proverbs 23:29-32
“Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright. At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.”
Proverbs 23:26-27
“My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.”
Read Proverbs 23 in full
Study the complete chapter with interlinear Hebrew & Greek, verse-by-verse, in the Gospel Daily reader.
Open the full chapter