1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider well what is before thee;

2For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, If thou art a man given to appetite!

3Long not for his dainties. For they are deceitful meat.

4Toil not to become rich; Cease from this, thy wisdom.

5Wilt thou let thine eyes fly toward them? They are gone! For riches truly make to themselves wings; They fly away like the eagle toward heaven.

6Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, And long not for his dainties;

7For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee.

8The morsel, which thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit up; And thou wilt have thrown away thy sweet words.

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

10Remove not the ancient landmark, And enter not into the fields of the fatherless!

11For their avenger is mighty; He will maintain their cause against thee.

12Apply thy heart to instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13Withhold not correction from a child; If thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

14Beat him thyself with the rod, And thou shalt rescue him from the underworld.

15My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart shall rejoice, even mine;

16Yea, my reins shall exult, When thy lips speak right things.

17Let not thy heart envy sinners, But continue thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long;

18For surely there shall be a reward, And thine expectation shall not be cut off.

19Hear thou, my son, and be wise; And let thy heart go forward in the way!

20Be not thou among winebibbers, And riotous eaters of flesh;

21For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

22Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old.

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

24The father of a righteous man shall greatly rejoice; Yea, he who begetteth a wise child shall have joy in him.

25Let thy father and thy mother have joy; Yea, let her that bore thee rejoice!

26My son, give me thy heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways!

27For a harlot is a deep ditch; Yea, a strange woman is a narrow pit.

28Like a robber she lieth in wait, And increaseth the treacherous among men.

29Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who anxiety? Who wounds without cause? Who dimness of eyes?

30They that tarry long at the wine; They that go in to seek mixed wine.

31Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth in the cup, When it goeth down smoothly.

32At the last it biteth like a serpent, And stingeth like an adder.

33Thine eyes will look upon strange women, And thy heart will utter perverse things.

34Yea, thou shalt be as one that lieth down in the midst of the sea, And as one that lieth down upon the top of a mast.

35They have stricken me [[shalt thou say]],—I suffered no pain! They have beaten me,—I felt it not! When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.