Proverbs 23

1When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what ▼

▼Or who

is before you,
2and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3 ^bDo not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4 ^cDo not toil to acquire wealth;
^dbe discerning enough to desist.
5When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
^efor suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6 ^fDo not eat the bread of a man who is ^gstingy; ▼

▼Hebrew whose eye is evil

ⁱdo not desire his delicacies,
7for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. ▼

▼Or  for as he calculates in his soul, so is he

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,
but his ^kheart is not with you.
8You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
9Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10 ^lDo not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11for their ^mRedeemer is strong;
he will ⁿplead their cause against you.
12Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13Do not withhold ^odiscipline from a child;
^pif you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14If you strike him with the rod,
you will ^qsave his soul from Sheol.
15 ^rMy son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16My ^sinmost being ▼

▼Hebrew  My kidneys

will exult
when your lips speak ^uwhat is right.
17Let not your heart ^venvy sinners,
but continue in ^wthe fear of the Lord all the day.
18Surely ^xthere is a future,
and your ^yhope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and ^zbe wise,
and ^aadirect your heart in the way.
20Be not among ^abdrunkards ▼

▼Hebrew those who drink too much wine

or among ^adgluttonous eaters of meat,
21for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and ^aeslumber will clothe them with rags.
22 ^afListen to your father who gave you life,
^agand do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 ^ahBuy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 ^aiThe father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 ^ajLet your father and mother be glad;
let ^akher who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe ▼

▼Or delight in

my ways.
27For a prostitute is ^ama deep pit;
^anan adulteress ▼

▼Hebrew  a foreign woman

is a narrow ^apwell.
28 ^aqShe lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind.
29 ^arWho has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has ^aswounds without cause?
Who has ^atredness of eyes?
30Those who ^autarry long over wine;
those who go to try ^avmixed wine.
31Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32In the end it ^awbites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter ^axperverse things.
34You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast. ▼

▼Or  of the rigging

35“They ^azstruck me,” you will say, ▼

▼Hebrew lacks  you will say

“but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I ^bbmust have another drink.”