1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

consider carefully what  * 23:1 Or who  is before you,

2 and put a knife to your throat

if you have a big  * 23:2 Lit you are the master of an  appetite;

3 don’t desire his choice food,  * 23:3 Gn 27:4; Pr 23:6; Dn 1:8

for that food is deceptive.

4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;  * 23:4 Pr 15:27; 28:20; Mt 6:19; 1Tm 6:9–10; Heb 13:5

because you know better, stop!

5 As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,  * 23:5 Pr 27:24

for it makes wings for itself

and flies like an eagle to the sky.

6 Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,  * 23:6 Lit eat bread of an evil eye,* 23:6 Dt 15:9; Pr 28:22; Mt 6:23

and don’t desire his choice food,  * 23:6 Pr 23:3

7 for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.  * 23:7 LXX reads it is like someone swallowing a hair in the throat,* 23:7 Mt 6:21; Lk 12:34

"Eat and drink," he says to you,

but his heart is not with you.  * 23:7 Pr 26:24–25

8 You will vomit the little you’ve eaten

and waste your pleasant words.

9 Don’t speak to  * 23:9 Lit in the ears of a fool,

for he will despise the insight of your words.  * 23:9 Mt 7:6

10 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker,  * 23:10 Pr 22:28

and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

11 for their Redeemer is strong,  * 23:11 Jr 50:34

and he will champion their cause against you.  * 23:11 Pr 22:22–23

12 Apply yourself to discipline

and listen to words of knowledge.

13 Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;

if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.  * 23:13 Pr 13:24; 19:18; 22:15

14 Punish him with a rod,

and you will rescue his life from Sheol.  * 23:14 1Co 5:5

15 My son, if your heart is wise,

my heart will indeed rejoice.  * 23:15 Pr 10:1; 15:20; 23:24–25; 29:3

16 My innermost being will celebrate

when your lips say what is right.  * 23:16 Pr 8:6

17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners;  * 23:17 Ps 37:1; Pr 24:1,19

instead, always fear the  Lord.  * 23:17 Pr 28:14

18 For then you will have a future,

and your hope will not be dashed.  * 23:18 Ps 9:18; Pr 10:28; 24:14; Jr 29:11

19 Listen, my son, and be wise;

keep your mind on the right course.

20 Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine  * 23:20 Pr 20:1; 23:29–30; Is 5:22; Mt 24:49; Lk 21:34; Rm 13:13; Eph 5:18

or with those who gorge themselves on meat.  * 23:20 Pr 28:7

21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,

and grogginess will clothe them in rags.  * 23:21 Pr 6:10–11

22 Listen to your father who gave you life,

and don’t despise your mother when  * 23:22 Or because  she is old.  * 23:22 Pr 1:8; 15:20; Eph 6:1

23 Buy — and do not sell — truth,

wisdom, instruction, and understanding.  * 23:23 Pr 4:5,7; 16:16; 18:15; Mt 13:44

24 The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,

and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.  * 23:24 Pr 10:1; 23:15; 29:3

25 Let your father and mother have joy,  * 23:25 Pr 27:11

and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

26 My son, give me your heart,

and let your eyes observe my ways.

27 For a prostitute is a deep pit,  * 23:27 Pr 22:14

and a wayward woman is a narrow well;

28 indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber  * 23:28 Pr 6:26; 7:12,22–23; Ec 7:26

and increases the number of unfaithful people.

29 Who has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?

Who has wounds for no reason?  * 23:29 Pr 23:35

Who has red eyes?

30 Those who linger over wine;

those who go looking for mixed wine.  * 23:30 Is 5:11,22

31 Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,  * 23:31 Eph 5:18

because it gleams in the cup

and goes down smoothly.  * 23:31 Sg 7:9

32 In the end it bites like a snake

and stings like a viper.

33 Your eyes will see strange things,

and you will say absurd things.  * 23:33 Or will speak perversities, or inverted things,* 23:33 Is 28:7

34 You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea

or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.

35 "They struck me, but  * 23:35 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read me," you will say, "but  I feel no pain!

They beat me, but I didn’t know it!  * 23:35 Pr 23:29; Jr 5:3

When will I wake up?

I’ll look for another drink."  * 23:35 Is 56:12