Proverbs 23:9-21

⁹◄Do not waste time by/It is useless► talking to foolish people; they will only despise the wise things that you say.

¹⁰Do not steal someone's property by removing a boundary marker that has been there for a long time, and do not take for yourself the land that belongs to orphans,

¹¹because Yahweh is strong, and he is like a relative that has the responsibility to defend them, he will stand up in court and argue for them and against you.

¹²Pay attention to what your teachers teach you, and try to learn from the wise things that they say.

¹³Do not refuse to discipline your children; if you punish/spank them, it will not cause them to die,

¹⁴and it may save them from going to the place where dead people are.

¹⁵My son/child, if you SYN become wise, I SYN will be very happy.

¹⁶I SYN will rejoice when I hear you SYN say what is right/wise.

¹⁷Do not envy sinful people; instead, revere Yahweh all of your life.

¹⁸If you do that, you will be happy in the future, and God will certainly do for you what you are confidently expecting him to do.

¹⁹My son/child, listen carefully to me and become wise, and think about ◄all that you do/your behavior►.

²⁰Do not associate with those who drink a lot of ◄wine/strong drink► or with those who ◄are gluttons/eat more than they should►,

²¹because drunkards and gluttons will become poor; and if all that you do is eat and sleep, you will soon ◄be wearing rags/not have any money to buy clothes►.