1
|
When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you, |
|
2
|
and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite. |
|
3
|
Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive. |
|
4
|
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself. |
|
5
|
When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky. |
|
6
|
Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies; |
|
7
|
for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. |
|
8
|
You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words. |
|
9
|
Do not speak to 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 the fatherless, |
|
11
|
for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you. |
|
12
|
Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge. |
|
13
|
Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die. |
|
14
|
Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol. |
|
15
|
My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice. |
|
16
|
My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right. |
|
17
|
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD. |
|
18
|
For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. |
|
19
|
Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course. |
|
20
|
Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat. |
|
21
|
For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags. |
|
22
|
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. |
|
23
|
Invest in truth and never sell it—in wisdom and instruction and understanding. |
|
24
|
The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him. |
|
25
|
May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice! |
|
26
|
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways. |
|
27
|
For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well. |
|
28
|
Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men. |
|
29
|
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes? |
|
30
|
Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks. |
|
31
|
Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. |
|
32
|
In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper. |
|
33
|
Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities. |
|
34
|
You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast: |
|
35
|
“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?” |
|