1 W hen thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider diligently him that 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; Seeing they are deceitful food.

4 W eary not thyself to be rich; Cease from thine own wisdom.

5 W ilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? For riches certainly make themselves wings, Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.

6 E at thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, Neither desire thou his dainties:

7 F or as he thinketh within himself, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.

8 T he morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, And lose thy sweet words.

9 S peak not in the hearing of a fool; 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 strong; 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 if thou beat him with the rod, he will 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 will be glad, even mine:

16 Y ea, my heart will rejoice, When thy lips speak right things.

17 L et not thy heart envy sinners; But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:

18 F or surely there is a reward; And thy hope shall not be cut off.

19 H ear thou, my son, and be wise, And guide thy heart in the way.

20 B e not among winebibbers, Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:

21 F or the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; And drowsiness will clothe a man 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; Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24 T he father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.

25 L et thy father and thy mother be glad, And let her that bare thee rejoice.

26 M y son, give me thy heart; And let thine eyes delight in my ways.

27 F or a harlot is a deep ditch; And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.

28 Y ea, she lieth in wait as a robber, And increaseth the treacherous among men.

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

30 T hey that tarry long at the wine; They that go to seek out mixed wine.

31 L ook not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it 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 things, And thy heart shall utter perverse things.

34 Y ea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35 T hey have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt; They have beaten me, and I felt it not: When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.