1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, take careful note of what is in front of you,
2 and put a knife to your throat if you have a big appetite.
3 Do not crave his fine food, for it is food that deceives.
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the sense to stop.
5 When you let your eyes fly to it, it is no more; for it will surely sprout wings and fly off like an eagle toward the sky.
6 Do not eat the food of a stingy man, and do not crave his fine food;
7 for as he thinks within himself, so he is. "Eat and drink," he tells you, but his heart is not with you.
8 You will throw up the little you have eaten and will have wasted your pleasant words.
9 Do not talk in the ears of a fool, for he will scorn the wisdom of your words.
10 Do not shift the ancient boundary marker, and do not encroach on the fields of the orphans;
11 for their Redeemer is mighty; he will take up their case against you.
12 Bring your heart to discipline and your ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
14 Strike him with the rod, and you will rescue his soul from Sheol.
15 My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart too will rejoice;
16 my inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right.
17 Do not let your heart be jealous of sinners, but live in the fear of the LORD all the day;
18 for surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
19 Listen, my son, and become wise, and keep your heart on the right path.
20 Do not join those who drink too much wine or those who gorge themselves on meat;
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and drowsiness dresses a man in rags.
22 Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not scorn your mother when she is old.
23 Buy truth and do not sell it, wisdom and discipline and understanding.
24 The father of a righteous man will rejoice greatly; whoever fathers a wise son will be glad of him.
25 May your father and mother rejoice, and may she who gave you birth be glad.
26 My son, give your heart to me, and let your eyes keep my ways.
27 For a harlot is a deep pit, and a foreign woman a narrow well.
28 She lies in ambush like a bandit and multiplies the faithless among men.
29 Who has woe? Who has misery? Who has quarrels? Who has complaints? Who has bruises for no reason? Who has bloodshot eyes?
30 Those who stay late over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down so easily.
32 In the end it bites like a snake and strikes like a viper.
33 Your eyes will see strange sights, and your heart will speak twisted things.
34 You will be like one sleeping in the middle of the sea, like one lying at the top of the rigging.
35 "They hit me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not know it. When will I wake up? I will look for another drink."