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ProverbsChapter 23

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When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is before you,
and put a knife to your throat if you are a man of appetite.
Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Do not wear yourself out to get rich; have the sense to stop.
Will you set your eyes on it? It is already gone—for it surely makes itself wings and flies off to the heavens like an eagle.
Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies,
for inwardly he is always counting the cost. "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
You will vomit up the little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Do not move the ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
for their Redeemer is strong; he will take up their case against you.
Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.
Strike him with the rod, and you will save his soul from the grave.
My son, if your heart is wise, then my heart too will be glad.
My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always be zealous for the fear of the LORD.
Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
Listen, my son, and be wise, and set your heart on the right path.
Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat,
for the drunkard and the glutton come to poverty, and drowsiness clothes them in rags.
Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
Buy the truth and do not sell it—wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
The father of a righteous man rejoices greatly; whoever fathers a wise son delights in him.
May your father and mother rejoice; may she who gave you birth be glad.
My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes keep to my ways,
for a prostitute is a deep pit, and a wayward woman a narrow well.
Like a robber she lies in wait, and she adds to the number of unfaithful men.
Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
Those who linger over wine, who go looking for a well-mixed bowl.
Do not gaze at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart will utter twisted words.
You will be like one lying down in the middle of the sea, like one asleep at the top of the rigging.
"They struck me, but I felt nothing; they beat me, but I did not know it. When will I wake up? I need another drink."
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