23 When you sit to dine with a ruler,
    note well what^[a] is before you,
² and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to gluttony.
³ Do not crave his delicacies,^(A)
    for that food is deceptive.

⁶ Do not eat the food of a begrudging host,
    do not crave his delicacies;^(A)
7 for he is the kind of person
    who is always thinking about the cost.^[a]
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
    but his heart is not with you.
⁸ You will vomit up the little you have eaten
    and will have wasted your compliments.

⁹ Do not speak to fools,
    for they will scorn your prudent words.^(B)

⁶ Sending a message by the hands of a fool^(A)
    is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking poison.