²⁸ Kindness and faithfulness protect the king;
    he supports his throne by kindness.

⁸ The ways of some people are twisted and strange,
    but the behavior of those who do right is pure.

²⁹ The wicked person appears brash,
    but the virtuous think about the path ahead.

¹⁰ Remove the mocker and conflict disappears;
    judgment and shame also stop.
¹¹ Those who love a pure heart—
    their speech is gracious, and the king is their friend.

23 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
    carefully consider what is in front of you.
² Place a knife at your throat
    to control your appetite.
³ Don’t long for the ruler’s delicacies;
    the food misleads.

⁶ Don’t eat food with stingy people;
    don’t long for their delicacies,
⁷     because they are like a hair in the throat.^[a]
They say to you, “Eat and drink!”
    but they don’t mean it.
⁸ You will eat scraps and vomit them out.
    You will waste your pleasant words.

⁵ Remove the wicked from the king’s presence,
    and his throne will be established in righteousness.

⁶ Sending messages with a fool
    is like cutting off one’s feet or drinking down violence.

¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds someone randomly,
    so is one who hires a fool or a passerby.

²⁴ Hateful people mislead with their lips,
    keeping their deception within.
²⁵ Though they speak graciously, don’t believe them,
    for seven horrible things are in their heart.
²⁶ They may cover their hatred with trickery,
    but their evil will be revealed in public.
²⁷ Those who dig a pit will fall in it;
    those who roll a stone will have it turn back on them.
²⁸ A lying tongue hates those it crushes;
    a flattering mouth causes destruction.