23
1 When you sit to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you are a person who likes to eat a lot of food.
3 Do not crave his delicacies,
for it is the food of lies.
4 Do not work too hard to gain wealth;
be wise enough to know when to stop.
5 Will you let your eyes light upon it?
It will be gone,
for it will surely take up wings like an eagle
and fly off to the sky.
6 Do not eat the food of one with an evil eye—
and do not crave his delicacies,
7 for he is the kind of man who counts the price of the food.
“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten
and you will have wasted your compliments.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone
or encroach on the fields of orphans,
11 for their Redeemer is strong
and he will plead their case against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ears to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold instruction from a child,
for if you discipline him, he will not die.
14 It is you who must beat him with the rod
and save his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
then my heart also will be glad;
16 my inmost being will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart envy sinners,
but continue in the fear of Yahweh all the day.
18 Surely there is a future
and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear—you!—my son, and be wise
and direct your heart in the way.
20 Do not associate with drunkards,
or with gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton become poor
and slumber will clothe them with rags.
22 Listen to your father who begot you
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, but do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous person will greatly rejoice,
and he who begets a wise child will be glad in him.
25 Let your father and your mother be glad
and let her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart
and let your eyes observe my ways.
27 For a prostitute is a deep pit,
and an immoral woman is a narrow well.
28 She lies in wait like a robber
and she increases the number of the treacherous among humanity.
29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has fights?
Who has complaining? Who has wounds for no reason?
Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who linger over wine,
those who try the mixed wine.
31 Do not look at the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 In the last it bites like a serpent
and it stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things
and your heart will utter perverse things.
34 You will be as one who sleeps on the high seas
or lies on the top of a mast.
35 “They hit me,” you will say, “but I was not hurt.
They beat me, but I did not feel it.
When will I wake up? I will seek another drink.”