Proverbs 23:5
Lift not up thy eyes to riches which thou canst not have: because they shall make themselves wings like those of an eagle, and shall fly towards heaven.
Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner, 1752)
In The King James Version
In Context
4Labour not to be rich: but set bounds to thy prudence.
6Eat not with an envious man, and desire not his meats:
Cross References
Job 1:14There came a messenger to Job, and said: The oxen were ploughing, and the asses feeding beside them,
Psalms 39:6Thou hast multiplied thy wonderful works, O Lord my God: and in thy thoughts there is no one like to thee. I have declared and I have spoken they are multiplied above number.
Proverbs 27:24For thou shalt not always have power: but a crown shall be given to generation and generation.
Ecclesiastes 5:13For they are lost with very great affliction: he hath begotten a son, who shall be in extremity of want.
Isaiah 55:2Why do you spend money for that which is not bread, and your labour for that which doth not satisfy you? Hearken diligently to me, and eat that which is good, and your soul shall be delighted in fatness.
Jeremiah 39:12Take him, and set thy eyes upon him, and do him no harm: but as he hath a mind, so do with him.
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 →