1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
observe carefully what23:1 Or who is before you,
2 and put a knife to your throat
if you are given to appetite.
3 ver. 6Do not desire his delicacies,
for they are deceptive food.
4 ch. 15:27;28:20;Matt. 6:19;1 Tim. 6:9,10;Heb. 13:5Do not toil to acquire wealth;
[ch. 3:5,7;26:12;Isa. 5:21;Rom. 12:16]be discerning enough to desist.
5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
ch. 27:24for suddenly it sprouts wings,
flying like an eagle toward heaven.
6 [Ps. 141:4] Do not eat the bread of a man who is ch. 28:22;Deut. 15:9stingy;23:6 Hebrew whose eye is evil
ver. 3do not desire his delicacies,
7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.23:7 Or for as he calculates in his soul, so is he
"Eat and drink!" he says to you,
but his [Ps. 12:2]heart is not with you.
8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
and waste your pleasant words.
9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
for he will despise the good sense of your words.
10 See ch. 22:28Do not move an ancient landmark
or enter the fields of the fatherless,
11 for their [Ex. 6:6]; See Job 19:25Redeemer is strong;
he will See ch. 22:23plead their cause against you.
12 Apply your heart to instruction
and your ear to words of knowledge.
13 Do not withhold See ch. 13:24discipline from a child;
[ch. 19:18]if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
14 If you strike him with the rod,
you will [1 Cor. 5:5]save his soul from Sheol.
15 ver. 24, 25;See ch. 29:3My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart too will be glad.
16 My Ps. 7:9;73:21inmost being23:16 Hebrew My kidneys will exult
when your lips speak [ch. 8:6]what is right.
17 Let not your heart See Ps. 37:1envy sinners,
but continue in [ch. 28:14]the fear of the Lord all the day.
18 Surely ch. 24:14,20there is a future,
and your Ps. 9:18hope will not be cut off.
19 Hear, my son, and ch. 6:6be wise,
and [ch. 9:6]direct your heart in the way.
20 Be not among [ver. 29, 30; Isa. 5:11,22;Matt. 24:49;Luke 21:34;Rom. 13:13;Eph. 5:18] drunkards23:20 Hebrew those who drink too much wine
or among ch. 28:7gluttonous eaters of meat,
21 for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
and [ch. 6:10,11]slumber will clothe them with rags.
22 See ch. 1:8Listen to your father who gave you life,
[ch. 30:17]and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23 [ch. 4:5,7;18:15;Matt. 13:44]Buy truth, and do not sell it;
buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24 ver. 15;See ch. 29:3The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
25 [See ver. 24above] Let your father and mother be glad;
let ch. 17:25her who bore you rejoice.
26 My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe23:26 Or delight in my ways.
27 For a prostitute is [ch. 22:14] a deep pit;
See ch. 2:16an adulteress23:27 Hebrew a foreign woman is a narrow Ps. 55:23well.
28 ch. 7:12;[Eccles. 7:26]She lies in wait like a robber
and increases the traitors among mankind.
29 [ver. 20, 21] Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has [ver. 35] wounds without cause?
Who has Gen. 49:12redness of eyes?
30 Those who Isa. 5:11tarry long over wine;
those who go to try ch. 9:2,5;Ps. 75:8;Isa. 5:22;65:11mixed wine.
31 Do not look at wine when it is red,
when it sparkles in the cup
and goes down smoothly.
32 In the end it Job 20:16bites like a serpent
and stings like an adder.
33 Your eyes will see strange things,
and your heart utter See ch. 2:12perverse things.
34 You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
like one who lies on the top of a mast.23:34 Or of the rigging
35 "They Jer. 5:3;[ver. 29] struck me," you will say,23:35 Hebrew lacks you will say "but I was not hurt;
they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
I Isa. 56:12must have another drink."
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