Chapter 23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler , consider diligently what is before you ;
2 put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to appetite .
3 Don’t be desirous of his dainties , since they are deceitful food .
4 Don’t weary yourself to be rich . In your wisdom, show restraint.
5 Why do you set your eyes on that which is not ? For it certainly sprouts wings like an eagle and flies in the sky .
6 Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye , and don’t crave his delicacies ,
7 for as he thinks about the cost, so he is . "Eat and drink !" he says to you , but his heart is not with you .
8 You will vomit up the morsel which you have eaten and waste your pleasant words .
9 Don’t speak in the ears of a fool , for he will despise the wisdom of your words .
10 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone. Don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless ,
11 for their Defender is strong . He will plead their case against you .
12 Apply your heart to instruction , and your ears to the words of knowledge .
13 Don’t withhold correction from a child . If you punish him with the rod , he will not die .
14 Punish him with the rod , and save his soul from Sheol .
15 My son , if your heart is wise , then my heart will be glad , even mine .
16 Yes, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak what is right .
17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners , but rather fear Yahweh all day long .
18 Indeed surely there is a future hope , and your hope will not be cut off .
19 Listen , my son , and be wise , and keep your heart on the right path !
20 Don’t be among ones drinking too much wine , or those who gorge themselves on meat ;
21 for the drunkard and the glutton shall become poor ; and drowsiness clothes them in rags .
22 Listen to your father who gave you life, and don’t despise your mother when she is old .
23 Buy the truth, and don’t sell it . Get wisdom , discipline , and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous has great joy . Whoever fathers a wise child delights in him .
25 Let your father and your mother be glad ! Let her who bore you rejoice !
26 My son , give me your heart ; and let your eyes keep in my ways .
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit ; and a wayward wife is a narrow well.
28 Yes, she lies in wait like a robber , and increases the unfaithful among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife ? Who has complaints? Who has needless bruises ? Who has bloodshot eyes ?
30 Those who stay long at the wine ; those who go to seek out mixed wine .
31 Don’t look at the wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup, when it goes down smoothly .
32 In the end, it bites like a snake , and poisons like a viper .
33 Your eyes will see strange things , and your mind will imagine confusing things .
34 Yes, you will be as he who lies down in the middle of the sea , or as he who lies on top of the rigging:
35 " They hit me , and I was not hurt! They beat me , and I don’t feel it ! When will I wake up? I can do it again . I will look for more ."