Pro 23 | EE | STEP | When you sit down to eat with a ruler be careful.

Proverbs 23

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler be careful.

2 Even if you enjoy your food, do not eat too much of it.

3 Do not want his special food. He put it there so that you would seem like a fool.

4 Do not try to get rich and so make yourself ill.

5 Your money can go very quickly. It can seem to grow wings and to fly away like a big bird.

6 A man can be too careful about his money. His food seems good when you taste it. But do not eat it or want it.

7 He says, ‘Please have some more’, but he is thinking, ‘Do not have any more.’

8 The food will make you sick and all your nice words will mean nothing.

9 Do not speak wise words to a fool. He will not understand them. And he will think that they are silly.

10 Never move an old stone that shows the border of someone’s land. Never take the land from children who have neither father nor mother.

11 The LORD is strong on their behalf. He will speak against you.

12 Listen to your teacher. And learn all that you can.

13 Your children must obey you. If you hit them with a stick, you will not kill them.

14 Hit them with a stick. It will save their lives.

15 Son, if you become wise, I will be very happy.

16 I will be very happy when I hear you speak words of wisdom.

17 Do not want to be the same as very bad people. Obey the LORD during all your life.

18 If you do, you will be happy in future days. And what you hope for will not come to an end.

19 Listen, my son, and remember to live a wise life.

20 Do not be a friend of people who drink too much alcohol. Do not be a friend of people who eat too much.

21 They will become poor. And if you sleep too much, your clothes will soon have holes in them.

22 Listen to your father. You would not be alive without him. Your mother will get old. But do not think that she is not important then.

23 Buy wise words and do not sell them. They are worth the money. They are too valuable for you to sell. Get wisdom. Learn all that you can.

24 The father of a good man will be happy. He can have pleasure in a wise son.

25 Give pleasure to your father and mother. And make your mother happy.

26 Watch me, my son. Be happy to live as I live.

27 Prostitutes cause men to sin. And an adulteress is very dangerous.

28 They take husbands away from their wives. They take men who are not theirs. This happens to more men all the time.

29 ^{▼▼This verse is empty because in this translation its contents have been moved to form part of verse Pro 23:30.} ^{▼▼In this translation, this verse contains text which in some other translations appears in verses Pro 23:29-Pro 23:30.}30 Show to me someone who drinks too much alcohol. And he likes to taste new drinks. Then I will show to you someone who is sad and sorry for himself. He always causes quarrels. He is always saying that something is wrong. His eyes are red. His body has marks where he has hurt himself.

31 Do not look at wine when it is red. Do not look at it when it shines in the cup. Do not look at it when it goes down easily.

32 In the end, it bites like a snake with all its poison.

33 Your eyes will see strange things. And you will not think or speak easily.

34 You will be like a man on a ship who is asleep in a storm.

35 ‘They hit me’, he says, ‘but they did not hurt me. They hit me and I do not remember it. I hope that I will wake up soon. I need another drink.’