Proverbs, 23

¹ When you sit down to eat with a king, Carefully consider what is before you;

² Put a knife to your throat^*1 If you have a large appetite.^*2

³ Do not crave his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

⁴ Do not wear yourself out to gain wealth. Stop and show understanding.^*1

⁵ When you cast your eyes on it, it is not there, For it will surely sprout wings like an eagle and fly off into the sky.

⁶ Do not eat the food of a stingy person;^*1 Do not crave his delicacies,

⁷ For he is like one keeping accounts.^*1 “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but he does not mean it.^*2

⁸ You will vomit up the morsels you have eaten And will have wasted your compliments.

⁹ Do not speak in the ears of the stupid one, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰ Do not move an ancient boundary marker Or encroach on the field of the fatherless.

¹¹ For their Defender^*1 is strong; He will take up their cause against you.

¹² Apply your heart to discipline And your ear to the sayings of knowledge.

¹³ Do not hold back discipline from a boy.^*1 If you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴ With the rod you should strike him, In order to save him^*1 from the Grave.^*2

¹⁵ My son, if your heart becomes wise, Then my own heart will rejoice.

¹⁶ My innermost being^*1 will find joy When your lips speak what is right.

¹⁷ Let your heart not envy sinners, But be in the fear of Jehovah all day long,

¹⁸ For then you will have a future And your hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and become wise, And direct your heart in the right way.

²⁰ Do not be among those who drink too much wine, Among those who gorge themselves on meat,

²¹ For a drunkard and a glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe one with rags.

²² Listen to your father who caused your birth, And do not despise your mother just because she has grown old.

²³ Buy^*1 truth and never sell it, Also wisdom and discipline and understanding.

²⁴ The father of a righteous one will surely be joyful; Whoever fathers a wise son will rejoice in him.

²⁵ Your father and your mother will rejoice, And she who gave birth to you will be joyful.

²⁶ My son, do give your heart to me, And may your eyes take pleasure in my ways.

²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit, And an immoral^*1 woman is a narrow well.

²⁸ She lies in wait like a robber; She increases the number of unfaithful men.

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has uneasiness? Who has quarrels? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason? Who has bleary^*1 eyes?

³⁰ Those lingering long over wine; Those searching out^*1 mixed wine.

³¹ Do not look at the wine’s red color As it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly,

³² For in the end it bites like a serpent, And it secretes poison like a viper.

³³ Your eyes will see strange things, And your heart will speak perverse things.

³⁴ And you will be like one lying down in the middle of the sea, Like one lying at the top of a ship’s mast.

³⁵ You will say: “They have struck me, but I did not feel it.^*1 They beat me, but I did not know it. When will I wake up? I need another drink.”^*2