When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3 aDo not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4 aDo not toil to acquire wealth;
bbe discerning enough to desist.
5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
afor suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6 aDo not eat the bread of a man who is bstingy;
cdo not desire his delicacies,
7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his aheart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10 aDo not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their aRedeemer is strong;
he will bplead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold adiscipline from a child;
bif you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike him with the rod,
you will asave his soul from Sheol.
15 aMy son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16 My ainmost being will exult
when your lips speak bwhat is right.
17 Let not your heart aenvy sinners,
but continue in bthe fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely athere is a future,
and your bhope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and abe wise,
and bdirect your heart in the way.
20 Be not among adrunkards
or among bgluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and aslumber will clothe them with rags.
22 aListen to your father who gave you life,
band do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 aBuy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 aThe father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 aLet your father and mother be glad;
let bher who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a prostitute is aa deep pit;
ban adulteress is a narrow cwell.
28 aShe lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind.
29 aWho has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has bwounds without cause?
Who has credness of eyes?
30 Those who atarry long over wine;
those who go to try bmixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 In the end it abites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter aperverse things.
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.
35 “They astruck me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I bmust have another drink.”