1When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2For thou puttest a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man of a craving desire.
3Do not long for his savory meats; they are deceitful food.
4Fatigue thyself not to become rich; because thou hast understanding, forbear.
5When thou lettest merely thy eyes fly over it, it is no more: for it will ever make itself wings: like an eagle will it fly toward heaven.
6Eat not the bread of a man with an evil eye, and do not long for his savory meats;
7For as though there were a division in his soul, so doth he act: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8Thy morsel which thou hast eaten must thou spit out, and thou hast wasted thy pleasant words.
9Speak not before the ears of a fool; for he will despise the intelligence of thy words.
10Remove not the ancient landmark, and into the fields of the fatherless must thou not enter;
11For their redeemer is strong; he will indeed plead their cause with thee.
12Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thy ears to the sayings of knowledge.
13Withhold not from a lad correction; for if thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
14Thou wilt indeed beat him with the rod; but thou wilt deliver his soul from perdition.
15My son, If thy heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16And my reins shall exult when thy lips speak what is equitable.
17Let not thy heart be envious against sinners; but remain in the fear of the lord all the time.
18For surely there is a future, and thy hope will not be cut off.
19Hear thou, my son, and become wise, and guide thy heart on the right way.
20Be not among those that drink wine immoderately, among those that over-indulge in eating flesh:
21For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty; and drowsiness clotheth a man in rags.
22Hearken unto thy father that hath begotten thee, and despise not thy mother although she be old.
23Buy the truth and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24The father of the righteous will be greatly glad, and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy through him.
25Let then thy father and thy mother rejoice, and let her that hath born thee be glad.
26Give, my son, thy heart unto me, and let thy eyes watch my ways.
27For a harlot is a deep ditch, and a strange woman is a narrow well.
28She also lieth in wait like a robber, and she increaseth the treacherous among men.
29Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath quarrels? who hath complaints? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30They that tarry late over the wine: they that come to seek for mixed drink.
31Do not look on the wine when it looketh red, when it giveth its color in the cup, when it glideth down so readily.
32At the last it will bite like a serpent, and like a basilisk will it sting.
33Thy eyes will see strange forms, and thy heart will speak perverse things.
34And thou wilt be like one that lieth down in the heart of the sea, or as he that lieth on the top of a mast.
35“They smote me, but I suffered no pain; they struck me hard, but I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will continue to seek it again.”
