23:1  When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you,

23:2  And put a knife to your throat If you are a man of {great} appetite.

23:3  Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food.

23:4  Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration {of it.}

23:5  When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For {wealth} certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies {toward} the heavens.

23:6  Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies;

23:7  For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink! But his heart is not with you."

23:8  You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, And waste your compliments.

23:9  Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words.

23:10  Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless,

23:11  For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you.

23:12  Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge.

23:13  Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die.

23:14  You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol.

23:15  My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad;

23:16  And my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right.

23:17  Do not let your heart envy sinners, But {live} in the fear of the LORD always.

23:18  Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off.

23:19  Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way.

23:20  Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, {Or} with gluttonous eaters of meat;

23:21  For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe {one} with rags.

23:22  Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old.

23:23  Buy truth, and do not sell {it,} {Get} wisdom and instruction and understanding.

23:24  The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.

23:25  Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

23:26  Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.

23:27  For a harlot is a deep pit And an adulterous woman is a narrow well.

23:28  Surely she lurks as a robber, And increases the faithless among men.

23:29  Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes?

23:30  Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine.

23:31  Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly;

23:32  At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper.

23:33  Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things.

23:34  And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast.

23:35  "They struck me, {but} I did not become ill; They beat me, {but} I did not know {it.} When shall I awake? I will seek another drink."