23:1  When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which `is' before thee,

23:2  And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou `art' a man of appetite.

23:3  Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it `is' lying food.

23:4  Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not.

23:5  For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens.

23:6  Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties,

23:7  For as he hath thought in his soul, so `is' he, `Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart `is' not with thee.

23:8  Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that `are' sweet.

23:9  In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words.

23:10  Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not,

23:11  For their Redeemer `is' strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.

23:12  Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge.

23:13  Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not.

23:14  Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest.

23:15  My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine,

23:16  And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.

23:17  Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But -- in the fear of Jehovah all the day.

23:18  For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off.

23:19  Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart,

23:20  Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh,

23:21  For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags.

23:22  Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old.

23:23  Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding,

23:24  The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him.

23:25  Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful.

23:26  Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways.

23:27  For a harlot `is' a deep ditch, And a strange woman `is' a strait pit.

23:28  She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth.

23:29  Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes?

23:30  Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine.

23:31  See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright.

23:32  Its latter end -- as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth.

23:33  Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things.

23:34  And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast.

23:35  `They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake -- I seek it yet again!'