Proverbs 23
When dining with a ruler, be cautious of the food and do not overindulge, for it may be deceitful. Do not covet wealth you cannot have, and avoid eating with envious people who may have ulterior motives. Discipline a child with a rod to save them from harm, and seek wisdom and knowledge to guide your soul. Avoid the company of drunkards and those who waste time, and instead listen to your parents and follow their guidance. A loose woman is a danger, and those who linger over wine will suffer woe and harm.
When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your faceand put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own powerDo not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceitDo not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudenceDo not raise your eyes toward wealth that you are not able to have. For they will make themselves wings, like those of an eagle, and they will fly in the skyDo not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foodsFor, like a seer and an interpreter of dreams, he presumes what he does not know. "Eat and drink," he will say to you; and his mind is not with youThe foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your wordsDo not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquenceDo not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherlessFor their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against youLet your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledgeDo not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not dieYou will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from HellMy son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with youAnd my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is uprightLet not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day longFor you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken awayListen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the wayDo not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on fleshFor those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in ragsListen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is oldPurchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understandingThe father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in himLet your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exultMy son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my waysFor a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted wellShe lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to deathWho has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyesIs it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cupsDo not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantlybut in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakesYour eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversitiesAnd you will be like someone sleeping in the middle of the sea, and like a pilot, fast asleep, who has lost his hold on the helmAnd you will say: "They have beaten me, but I did not feel pain. They have dragged me, and I did not realize it. When will I awaken and find more wine?
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