1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler,

Consider diligently him that is before thee;

2 And put a knife to thy throat,

If thou be a man given to appetite.

3 Be not desirous of his dainties;

Seeing they are deceitful food.

4 Weary not thyself to be rich;

Cease from thine own wisdom.

5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not?

For riches certainly make themselves wings,

Like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.

6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye,

Neither desire thou his dainties:

7 For as he thinketh within himself, so is he:

Eat and drink, saith he to thee;

But his heart is not with thee.

8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up,

And lose thy sweet words.

9 Speak not in the hearing of a fool;

For he will despise the wisdom of thy words.

10 Remove not the ancient landmark;

And enter not into the fields of the fatherless:

11 For their Redeemer is strong;

He will plead their cause against thee.

12 Apply thy heart unto instruction,

And thine ears to the words of knowledge.

13 Withhold not correction from the child;

For if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.

14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod,

And shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.

15 My son, if thy heart be wise,

My heart will be glad, even mine:

16 Yea, my heart will rejoice,

When thy lips speak right things.

17 Let not thy heart envy sinners;

But be thou in the fear of Jehovah all the day long:

18 For surely there is a reward;

And thy hope shall not be cut off.

19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise,

And guide thy heart in the way.

20 Be not among winebibbers,

Among gluttonous eaters of flesh:

21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;

And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags.

22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee,

And despise not thy mother when she is old.

23 Buy the truth, and sell it not;

Yea, wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;

And he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.

25 Let thy father and thy mother be glad,

And let her that bare thee rejoice.

26 My son, give me thy heart;

And let thine eyes delight in my ways.

27 For a harlot is a deep ditch;

And a foreign woman is a narrow pit.

28 Yea, she lieth in wait as a robber,

And increaseth the treacherous among men.

29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions?

Who hath complaining? who hath wounds without cause?

Who hath redness of eyes?

30 They that tarry long at the wine;

They that go to seek out mixed wine.

31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red,

When it sparkleth in the cup,

When it goeth down smoothly:

32 At the last it biteth like a serpent,

And stingeth like an adder.

33 Thine eyes shall behold strange things,

And thy heart shall utter perverse things.

34 Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea,

Or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.

35 They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not hurt;

They have beaten me, and I felt it not:

When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee,

2 And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite.

3 Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food.

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

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

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

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.

8 Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet.

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

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

11 For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee.

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

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

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

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

16 And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

27 For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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.

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