Proverbs 23

¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler , observe carefully what is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite .

³Do not desire his delicacies , for they are deceptive food .

⁴Do not toil to acquire wealth ; be discerning enough to desist .

⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone , for suddenly it sprouts wings , flying like an eagle toward heaven .

⁶Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy ; do not desire his delicacies ,

⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating . Eat and drink ! he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

⁸You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten , and waste your pleasant words .

⁹Do not speak in the hearing of a fool , for he will despise the good sense of your words .

¹⁰Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless ,

¹¹for their Redeemer is strong ; he will plead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge .

¹³Do not withhold discipline from a child ; if you strike him with a rod , he will not die .

¹⁴If you strike him with the rod , you will save his soul from Sheol .

¹⁵My son , if your heart is wise , my heart too will be glad .

¹⁶My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right .

¹⁷Let not your heart envy sinners , but continue in the fear of the Lord all the day .

¹⁸Surely there is a future , and your hope will not be cut off .

¹⁹Hear , my son , and be wise , and direct your heart in the way .

²⁰Be not drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat ,

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty , and slumber will clothe them with rags .

²²Listen to your father who gave you life , and do not despise your mother when she is old .

²³Buy truth , and do not sell it; buy wisdom , instruction , and understanding .

²⁴The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice ; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵Let your father and mother be glad ; let her who bore you rejoice .

²⁶My son , give me your heart , and let your eyes observe my ways .

²⁷For a prostitute is a deep pit ; an adulteress is a narrow well .

²⁸She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind .

²⁹Who has woe ? Who has sorrow ? Who has strife ? Who has complaining ? Who has wounds without cause ? Who has redness of eyes ?

³⁰Those who tarry long over wine ; those who go to try mixed wine .

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red , when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly .

³²In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder .

³³Your eyes will see strange things , and your heart utter perverse things .

³⁴You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea , like one who lies on the top of a mast .

³⁵They struck me, you will say, but I was not hurt ; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake ? I must have another drink.