1 W hen thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well who is before thee;

2 a nd put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

3 B e not desirous of his dainties; for they are deceitful food.

4 W eary not thyself to become rich; cease from thine own intelligence:

5 w ilt thou set thine eyes upon it, it is gone; for indeed it maketh itself wings and it flieth away as an eagle towards the heavens.

6 E at thou not the food of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties.

7 F or as he thinketh in his soul, so is he. Eat and drink! will he say unto thee; but his heart is not with thee.

8 T hy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou vomit up, and thou wilt have wasted thy sweet words.

9 S peak not in the ears of a foolish, for he will despise the wisdom of thy 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 thee.

12 A pply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13 W ithhold not correction from the child; for thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die:

14 t hou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.

15 M y son, if thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine;

16 a nd my reins shall exult, when thy lips speak right things.

17 L et not thy heart envy sinners, but in the fear of Jehovah all the day;

18 f or surely there is a result, and thine expectation shall not be cut off.

19 T hou, my son, hear and be wise, and direct thy heart in the way.

20 B e not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh.

21 F or the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth with rags.

22 H earken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23 B uy the truth, and sell it not; wisdom, and instruction, and intelligence.

24 T he father of a righteous shall greatly rejoice, and he that begetteth a wise shall have joy of him:

25 l et thy father and thy mother have joy, and let her that bore thee rejoice.

26 M y son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

27 F or a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28 S he also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the treacherous among men.

29 W ho hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who complaining? Who wounds without cause? Who redness of eyes?

30 — They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.

31 L ook not upon the wine when it is red, when it sparkleth in the cup, and goeth down smoothly:

32 a t the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.

33 T hine eyes shall behold strange women, and thy heart shall speak froward things;

34 a nd thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, and as he that lieth down upon the top of a mast:

35 — ''They have smitten me, I am not sore; they have beaten me, I knew it not. When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.''