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23
1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Consider well what is before thee; 2 For thou wilt put a knife to thy throat, If thou art a man given to appetite! 3 Long not for his dainties. For they are deceitful meat. 4 Toil not to become rich; Cease from this, thy wisdom. 5 Wilt thou let thine eyes fly toward them? They are gone! For riches truly make to themselves wings; They fly away like the eagle toward heaven. 6 Eat not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, And long not for his dainties; 7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” saith he to thee; But his heart is not with thee. 8 The morsel, which thou hast eaten, thou shalt vomit up; And thou wilt have thrown away thy sweet words. 9 Speak not in the ears 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 avenger is mighty; He will maintain their cause against thee. 12 Apply thy heart to instruction, And thine ears to the words of knowledge. 13 Withhold not correction from a child; If thou beat him with the rod, he will not die. 14 Beat him thyself with the rod, And thou shalt rescue him from the underworld. 15 My son, if thy heart be wise, My heart shall rejoice, even mine; 16 Yea, my reins shall exult, When thy lips speak right things. 17 Let not thy heart envy sinners, But continue thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long; 18 For surely there shall be a reward, And thine expectation shall not be cut off. 19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise; And let thy heart go forward in the way! 20 Be not thou among winebibbers, And riotous eaters of flesh; 21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags. 22 Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she is old. 23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; Buy wisdom and instruction and understanding. 24 The father of a righteous man shall greatly rejoice; Yea, he who begetteth a wise child shall have joy in him. 25 Let thy father and thy mother have joy; Yea, let her that bore thee rejoice! 26 My son, give me thy heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways! 27 For a harlot is a deep ditch; Yea, a strange woman is a narrow pit. 28 Like a robber she lieth in wait, And increaseth the treacherous among men. 29 Who hath woe? Who hath sorrow? Who contentions? Who anxiety? Who wounds without cause? Who dimness of eyes? 30 They that tarry long at the wine; They that go in to seek mixed wine. 31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, When it sparkleth 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 will look upon strange women, And thy heart will utter perverse things. 34 Yea, thou shalt be as one that lieth down in the midst of the sea, And as one that lieth down upon the top of a mast. 35 They have stricken me [[shalt thou say]],—I suffered no pain! They have beaten me,—I felt it not! When shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.

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