23 When thou sittest to eat
with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee: 2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou
be a man given to appetite. 3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for
they are deceitful meat. 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. 6 Eat thou not the bread of him that
hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats: 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so
is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee. 8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt
thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words. 9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for
he will despise the wisdom of thy words. 10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter
not into the fields of the fatherless: 11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall
plead their cause with thee. 12 Apply thine heart unto instruction,
and thine ears to the words of knowledge. 13 Withhold not correction from the child:
for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod,
and shalt deliver his soul from hell. 15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my
heart shall rejoice, even mine. 16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when
thy lips speak right things. 17 Let not thine heart envy sinners:
but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
18
For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off. 19 Hear
thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way. 20 Be
not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh: 21 For
the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall
clothe a man with rags. 22 Hearken
unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is
old. 23 Buy
the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding. 24 The
father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise
child shall have joy of him. 25 Thy
father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice. 26 My
son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways. 27 For
a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit. 28 She
also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among
men. 29 Who
hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who
hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? 30 They
that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine. 31 Look
not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the
cup, when it moveth itself aright. 32 At
the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder. 33 Thine
eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things. 34 Yea,
thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that
lieth upon the top of a mast. 35 They
have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me,
and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.