1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,

consider carefully what  *  is before you,

2 and put a knife to your throat

if you have a big  *  appetite;

3 don’t desire his choice food,  *

for that food is deceptive.

4 Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;  *

because you know better, stop!

5 As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,  *

for it makes wings for itself

and flies like an eagle to the sky.

6 Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,  *,*

and don’t desire his choice food,  *

7 for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.  *,*

"Eat and drink," he says to you,

but his heart is not with you.  *

8 You will vomit the little you’ve eaten

and waste your pleasant words.

9 Don’t speak to  * a fool,

for he will despise the insight of your words.  *

10 Don’t move an ancient boundary marker,  *

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

11 for their Redeemer is strong,  *

and he will champion their cause against you.  *

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.  *

14 Punish him with a rod,

and you will rescue his life from Sheol.  *

15 My son, if your heart is wise,

my heart will indeed rejoice.  *

16 My innermost being will celebrate

when your lips say what is right.  *

17 Don’t let your heart envy sinners;  *

instead, always fear the  Lord.  *

18 For then you will have a future,

and your hope will not be dashed.  *

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  *

or with those who gorge themselves on meat.  *

21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,

and grogginess will clothe them in rags.  *

22 Listen to your father who gave you life,

and don’t despise your mother when  *  she is old.  *

23 Buy — and do not sell — truth,

wisdom, instruction, and understanding.  *

24 The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,

and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.  *

25 Let your father and mother have joy,  *

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,  *

and a wayward woman is a narrow well;

28 indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber  *

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?  *

Who has red eyes?

30 Those who linger over wine;

those who go looking for mixed wine.  *

31 Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,  *

because it gleams in the cup

and goes down smoothly.  *

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.  *,*

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  *  I feel no pain!

They beat me, but I didn’t know it!  *

When will I wake up?

I’ll look for another drink."  *