23:1
When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well him that is before thee;

23:2
And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.

23:3
Be not desirous of his dainties; seeing they are deceitful food.

23:4
Weary not thyself to be rich; cease from thine own wisdom.

23:5
Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it? it is gone; for riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.

23:6
Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties;

23:7
For as one that hath reckoned within himself, so is he: 'Eat and drink', saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.

23:8
The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.

23:9
Speak not in the ears of a fool; for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

23:10
Remove not the ancient landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless;

23:11
For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their cause with thee.

23:12
Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.

23:13
Withhold not correction from the child; for though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

23:14
Thou beatest him with the rod, and wilt deliver his soul from the nether-world.

23:15
My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart will be glad, even mine;

23:16
Yea, my reins will rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.

23:17
Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the Lord all the day;

23:18
For surely there is a future; and thy hope shall not be cut off.

23:19
Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.

23:20
Be not among winebibbers; among gluttonous eaters of flesh;

23:21
For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty; and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.

23:22
Hearken unto thy father that begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.

23:23
Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

23:24
The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.

23:25
Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bore thee rejoice.

23:26
My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

23:27
For a harlot is a deep ditch; and an alien woman is a narrow pit.

23:28
She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the faithless among men.

23:29
Who crieth: 'Woe'? who: 'Alas'? Who hath contentions? who hath raving? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?

23:30
They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to try mixed wine.

23:31
Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it glideth down smoothly;

23:32
At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like a basilisk.

23:33
Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter confused things.

23:34
Yea, 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.

23:35
'They have struck me, and I felt it not, they have beaten me, and I knew it not; when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.'