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Chapter 1 Chapter 2

CHAPTER 23

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
or
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,
those 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?”
< >

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