Proverbs 23:19 Explained in Context

Read It With

• Proverbs 23:19–21

Read Proverbs 23:19 with 23:19–21. Read alone, “Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way” could turn a compressed observation, warning, comparison, or command into a guarantee or complete policy. The full unit establishes: contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way”; by 23:21, it opens with “For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty” and develops the line through “and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags”. Together the unit concentrates on appetite, intoxication, desire, and self-government, family teaching, responsibility, and mutual care, wisdom, folly, teachability, and moral perception within “Sayings of the wise.”

Why This Verse Appears Here

Proverbs 23:19–21 continues “Reverent accountability before the LORD — Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear…” by carrying “Appetite, intoxication, desire, and self-government — Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in…” within the same sustained discourse, admonition, numbered form, or poem. Within that relationship, this verse contributes the claim, image, or instruction “Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way”.