[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 meat.
[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 reckoneth 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 shall plead their cause against thee.
[12] Apply thine 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 shall not die.
[14] Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from Sheol.
[15] My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall be glad, even mine:
[16] Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
[17] Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD 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 thine 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 shall 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 shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall 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 thine heart, and let thine eyes delight in my ways.
[27] For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange 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 giveth its colour 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 thine heart shall utter froward 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.