Proverbs 23:6-32

⁶Sup not with an envious man, Neither desire thou his meats:

⁷So he eats and drinks As if anyone should swallow a hair, And do not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:

⁸For he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.

⁹Say nothing in the ears of a fool, Lest at any time he sneer at thy wise words.

¹⁰Remove not the ancient landmarks; And enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:

¹¹For the Lord is their redeemer; He is mighty, and will plead their cause with thee.

¹²Apply thy heart to instruction, And prepare thine ears for words of discretion.

¹³Refrain not from chastening a child; For if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die.

¹⁴For thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from death.

¹⁵Son, if thy heart be wise, Thou shalt also gladden my heart;

¹⁶And thy lips shall converse with my lips, If they be right.

¹⁷Let not thy heart envy sinners: But be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day.

¹⁸For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have posterity; And thy hope shall not be removed.

¹⁹Hear, my son, and be wise, And rightly direct the thoughts of thy heart.

²⁰Be not a wine bibber, Neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:

²¹For every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; And every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.

²²Hearken, my son, to thy father which begot thee, And despise not thy mother because she is grown old.

²⁴A righteous father brings up his children well; And his soul rejoices over a wise son.

²⁵Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, And let her that bore thee be glad.

²⁶My son, give me thy heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways.

²⁷For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; And a strange well is narrow.

²⁸For such a one shall perish suddenly; And every transgressor shall be cut off.

²⁹Who has woe? who trouble? who has quarrels? And who vexations and disputes? Who has bruises without a cause? Whose eyes are livid?

³⁰Are not those of them that stay long at wine? Are not those of them that haunt the places where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, And converse with them openly.

³¹For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, Thou shalt afterward go more naked than a pestle.

³²But at last such a one stretches himself out as one smitten by a serpent, And venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.