1 W hen you sit down to eat with a ruler, consider who and what are before you;

2 F or you will put a knife to your throat if you are a man given to desire.

3 B e not desirous of his dainties, for it is deceitful food.

4 W eary not yourself to be rich; cease from your own wisdom.

5 W ill you set your eyes upon wealth, when it is gone? For riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

6 E at not the bread of him who has a hard, grudging, and envious eye, neither desire his dainty foods;

7 F or as he thinks in his heart, so is he. As one who reckons, he says to you, eat and drink, yet his heart is not with you.

8 T he morsel which you have eaten you will vomit up, and your complimentary words will be wasted.

9 S peak not in the ears of a fool, for he will despise the Wisdom of your words.

10 R emove not the ancient landmark and enter not into the fields of the fatherless,

11 F or their Redeemer is mighty; He will plead their cause against you.

12 A pply your mind to instruction and correction and your ears to words of knowledge.

13 W ithhold not discipline from the child; for if you strike and punish him with the rod, he will not die.

14 Y ou shall whip him with the rod and deliver his life from Sheol (Hades, the place of the dead).

15 M y son, if your heart is wise, my heart will be glad, even mine;

16 Y es, my heart will rejoice when your lips speak right things.

17 L et not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the reverent and worshipful fear of the Lord all the day long.

18 F or surely there is a latter end, and your hope and expectation shall not be cut off.

19 H ear, my son, and be wise, and direct your mind in the way.

20 D o not associate with winebibbers; be not among them nor among gluttonous eaters of meat,

21 F or the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

22 H earken to your father, who begot you, and despise not your mother when she is old.

23 B uy the truth and sell it not; not only that, but also get discernment and judgment, instruction and understanding.

24 T he father of the righteous (the upright, in right standing with God) shall greatly rejoice, and he who becomes the father of a wise child shall have joy in him.

25 L et your father and your mother be glad, and let her who bore you rejoice.

26 M y son, give me your heart and let your eyes observe and delight in my ways,

27 F or a harlot is a deep ditch, and a loose woman is a narrow pit.

28 S he also lies in wait as a robber or as one waits for prey, and she increases the treacherous among men.

29 W ho has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness and dimness of eyes?

30 T hose who tarry long at the wine, those who go to seek and try mixed wine.

31 D o not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the wineglass, when it goes down smoothly.

32 A t the last it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder.

33 y our eyes will behold strange things and your mind will utter things turned the wrong way.

34 Y es, you will be as he who lies down in the midst of the sea, and as he who lies upon the top of a mast.

35 Y ou will say, They struck me, but I was not hurt! They beat me, but I did not feel it! When shall I awake? I will crave and seek more wine again.