¹ When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
    take careful note of what is before you.
² Control yourself^[b]
    if you are given to overindulgence.
³ Do not yearn for the ruler’s delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.

⁴ Do not wear yourself out in the pursuit of wealth,
    and cease even to think about it.
⁵ When you fix your gaze upon it,
    it is gone before you realize it.
For it suddenly sprouts wings
    and flies up to the sky like an eagle.

⁶ Do not dine with a stingy man
    or hanker for his delicacies.
⁷ For, like a hair,
    they will stick in your throat.
“Eat and drink,” he will say to you,
    but he does not mean it in his heart.
⁸ You will vomit up the little you have eaten
    and find that your compliments have been wasted.
⁹ Do not waste your words on a fool
    who will only despise the wisdom of your comments.^[e]

¹⁰ Do not move an ancient boundary stone
    or encroach on the lands of orphans.
¹¹ For their redeemer is powerful,
    and he will take up their cause against you.

¹² Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ears to words of knowledge.
¹³ Do not withhold discipline from a child;
    if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴ Rather, if you beat him with a rod,
    you will save him from the netherworld.^[h]
15 My son, if your heart is wise,
    then my heart will be glad.
¹⁶ Also my innermost being will rejoice
    when your lips utter what is right.
¹⁷ Do not allow your heart to envy sinners,
    but always be zealous for the fear of the Lord;^[i]
18 there truly is a future for you,
    and your hope will not be cut short.
¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise
    as you direct your heart along the right path.
²⁰ Do not consort with drunkards^[j]
    or be one of those who gorge themselves with meat.
²¹ For the drunkard and the glutton will become impoverished,
    and stupor will clothe them in rags.
²² Listen to your father who begot you,
    and do not despise your mother^[k] when she is old.
²³ Buy truth and do not sell it;
    this is wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
²⁴ The father of a good man will rejoice;
    he who begets a wise son will delight in him.
²⁵ May your father and mother be glad;
    may the one who bore you exult.

²⁶ My son, pay attention to me
    and let your eyes delight in my ways.
²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep well,
    and an adulteress is a narrow pit.
²⁸ Such a woman lies in wait like a robber,
    and many are the men she deludes.

²⁹ Who endures misery? Who endures remorse?
    Who has strife? Who has anxiety?
Who becomes bruised without knowing the reason?
    Who has blackened eyes?
³⁰ Those who linger over their wine too long,
    those who sample blended wines.
³¹ Do not note how red the wine is,
    how it sparkles in the cup,
    and how smoothly it goes down.
³² For in the end its bite is like that of a serpent
    or that of a poisonous viper.
³³ Then your eyes will behold strange sights,
    and your heart will utter distorted words.
³⁴ You will become like one sleeping at sea
    or clinging to the top of the mast.
³⁵ You will say, “They struck me, but I was not hurt.
    They beat me, but I did not feel it.
When will I awaken,
    so that I can seek another drink?”