23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
consider carefully 1 what 2 is before you,
23:2 and put a knife to your throat 3
if you possess a large appetite. 4
23:3 Do not crave that ruler’s 5 delicacies,
for 6 that food is deceptive. 7
23:4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich;
be wise enough to restrain yourself. 8
23:5 When you gaze upon riches, 9 they are gone,
for they surely make wings for themselves,
and fly off into the sky like an eagle! 10
23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person, 11
do not crave his delicacies;
23:7 for he is 12 like someone calculating the cost 13 in his mind. 14
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you;
23:8 you will vomit up 15 the little bit you have eaten,
and will have wasted your pleasant words. 16
23:9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool, 17
for he will despise the wisdom of your words. 18
23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone,
or take over 19 the fields of the fatherless,
23:11 for their Protector 20 is strong;
he will plead their case against you. 21
23:12 Apply 22 your heart to instruction
and your ears to the words of knowledge.
23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;
even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
23:14 If you strike 23 him with the rod,
you will deliver him 24 from death. 25
23:15 My child, 26 if your heart is wise,
then my heart also will be glad;
23:16 my soul 27 will rejoice
when your lips speak what is right. 28
23:17 Do not let your heart envy 29 sinners,
but rather be zealous in fearing the Lord 30 all the time.
23:18 For surely there is a future, 31
and your hope will not be cut off. 32
23:19 Listen, my child, 33 and be wise,
and guide your heart on the right way.
23:20 Do not spend time 34 among drunkards, 35
among those who eat too much 36 meat,
23:21 because drunkards and gluttons become impoverished,
and drowsiness 37 clothes them with rags. 38
23:22 Listen to your father who begot you,
and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23:23 Acquire 39 truth and do not sell it –
wisdom, and discipline, and understanding.
23:24 The father of a righteous person will rejoice greatly; 40
whoever fathers a wise child 41 will have joy in him.
23:25 May your father and your mother have joy;
may she who bore you rejoice. 42
23:26 Give me your heart, my son, 43
and let your eyes observe my ways;
23:27 for a prostitute is like 44 a deep pit;
a harlot 45 is like 46 a narrow well. 47
23:28 Indeed, she lies in wait like a robber, 48
and increases the unfaithful 49 among men. 50
23:29 Who has woe? 51 Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds without cause? Who has dullness 52 of the eyes?
23:30 Those who linger over wine,
those who go looking for mixed wine. 53
23:31 Do not look on the wine when it is red,
when it sparkles 54 in the cup,
when it goes down smoothly. 55
23:32 Afterward 56 it bites like a snake,
and stings like a viper.
23:33 Your eyes will see strange things, 57
and your mind will speak perverse things.
23:34 And you will be like one who lies down in the midst 58 of the sea,
and like one who lies down on the top of the rigging. 59