¹When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what1 is before you,

²and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to appetite.

³cDo not desire his delicacies,

for they are deceptive food.

⁴dDo not toil to acquire wealth;

ebe discerning enough to desist.

⁵When your eyes light on it, it is gone,

ffor suddenly it sprouts wings,

flying like an eagle toward heaven.

⁶gDo not eat the bread of a man who is hstingy;2

ido not desire his delicacies,

⁷for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.3

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

but his jheart 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.

¹⁰kDo not move an ancient landmark

or enter the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹for their lRedeemer is strong;

he will mplead their cause against you.

¹²Apply your heart to instruction

and your ear to words of knowledge.

¹³Do not withhold ndiscipline from a child;

oif you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

¹⁴If you strike him with the rod,

you will psave his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵qMy son, if your heart is wise,

my heart too will be glad.

¹⁶My rinmost being4 will exult

when your lips speak swhat is right.

¹⁷Let not your heart tenvy sinners,

but continue in uthe fear of the Lord all the day.

¹⁸Surely vthere is a future,

and your whope will not be cut off.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and xbe wise,

and ydirect your heart in the way.

²⁰Be not among zdrunkards5

or among agluttonous eaters of meat,

²¹for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and bslumber will clothe them with rags.

²²cListen to your father who gave you life,

dand do not despise your mother when she is old.

²³eBuy truth, and do not sell it;

buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.

²⁴fThe father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵fLet your father and mother be glad;

let gher who bore you rejoice.

²⁶My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe6 my ways.

²⁷For a prostitute is ha deep pit;

ian adulteress7 is a narrow jwell.

²⁸kShe lies in wait like a robber

and increases the traitors among mankind.

²⁹lWho has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has mwounds without cause?

Who has nredness of eyes?

³⁰Those who otarry long over wine;

those who go to try pmixed wine.

³¹Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

³²In the end it qbites like a serpent

and stings like an adder.

³³Your eyes will see strange things,

and your heart utter rperverse 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.8

³⁵“They sstruck me,” you will say,9 “but I was not hurt;

they beat me, but I did not feel it.

When shall I awake?

I tmust have another drink.”