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.
1When you sit down to eat with a leader, pay close attention to what has been set before your face2and put a knife to your throat, if, in such a way, you could hold your soul in your own power3Do not desire his foods, in which is the bread of deceit4Do not be willing to labor so that you may be enriched. But set limits by your prudence5Do 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 sky6Do not eat with an envious man, and do not desire his foods7For, 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 you8The foods that you had eaten, you will vomit up. And you will lose the beauty in your words9Do not speak into the ears of the unwise. They will despise the doctrine of your eloquence10Do not touch the boundaries of little ones, and do not enter into the field of the fatherless11For their close relative is strong, and he will judge their case against you12Let your heart enter into doctrine, and let your ears enter into words of knowledge13Do not be willing to take away discipline from a child. For if you strike him with the rod, he will not die14You will strike him with the rod, and so shall you deliver his soul from Hell15My son, if your soul will become wise, my heart will be glad with you16And my temperament will exult, when your lips will have spoken what is upright17Let not your heart compete with sinners. But be in the fear of the Lord all day long18For you will have hope in the end, and your expectation will not be taken away19Listen, my son, and be wise, and direct your soul along the way20Do not be willing to be in the feasts of great drinkers, nor in the carousings of those who gather to feed on flesh21For those who waste time drinking, and who surrender themselves to symbols, will be consumed. And those who sleep will be clothed in rags22Listen to your father, who conceived you. And do not despise your mother, when she is old23Purchase truth, and do not sell wisdom, or doctrine, or understanding24The father of the just exults in gladness; he who has conceived the wise will rejoice in him25Let your father and your mother be joyful, and may she who conceived you exult26My son, offer me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways27For a loose woman is a deep pit, and a foreign woman is a constricted well28She lies in wait along the way like a robber. And the incautious one whom she sees, she will put to death29Who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has quarrels? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has watery eyes30Is it not those who linger over wine, and who strive to be drinking from their cups31Do not gaze into the wine when it turns gold, when its color shines in the glass. It enters pleasantly32but in the end, it will bite like a snake, and it will spread poison like a king of snakes33Your eyes will see women who are outsiders, and your heart will utter perversities34And 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 helm35And 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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