Proverbs 23:5
Will thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For it certainly makes itself wings, like an eagle that flies toward heaven.
A Conservative Version
In The King James Version
In Context
4Weary not thyself to be rich. Out of thine own wisdom, cease.
6Eat thou not the bread of an evil eye, nor desire thou his dainties.
Cross References
Job 1:14that there came a messenger to Job, and said, The oxen were plowing, and the donkeys feeding beside them,
Psalms 39:6Surely every man walks in a shadow. Surely they are disquieted in vain. He heaps up, and knows not who shall gather them.
Proverbs 27:24For riches are not forever. And does the crown endure to all generations?
Ecclesiastes 5:13There is a grievous evil which I have seen under the sun: Riches [were] kept by the owner of it to his hurt.
Isaiah 55:2Why do ye spend money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Hearken diligently to me, and eat ye that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Jeremiah 39:12Take him, and look well to him, and do him no harm, but do to him even as he shall say to thee.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 23:5-6
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom. 5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven. As some are given to appetite ( v. 2 ) so others to covetousness, and those Solomon here takes to task. Men cheat themselves as much by setting their hearts on money (though it seems most substantial) as by setting them on dainties. Observe, I. How he dissuades the covetous man from toiling and tormenting himself ( v. 4 ). "Do… Read the whole commentary →