23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,
    observe carefully what^[a] is before you,
² and put a knife to your throat
    if you are given to appetite.
^3 (A)Do not desire his delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.
^4 (B)Do not toil to acquire wealth;
    ^(C)be discerning enough to desist.
⁵ When your eyes light on it, it is gone,
    ^(D)for suddenly it sprouts wings,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
^6 (E)Do not eat the bread of a man who is ^(F)stingy;^{[b]
    (G)}do not desire his delicacies,
⁷ for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.^[c]
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his ^(H)heart is not with you.
⁸ You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,
    and waste your pleasant words.
⁹ Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    for he will despise the good sense of your words.
^10 (I)Do not move an ancient landmark
    or enter the fields of the fatherless,
¹¹ for their ^(J)Redeemer is strong;
    he will ^(K)plead their cause against you.
¹² Apply your heart to instruction
    and your ear to words of knowledge.
¹³ Do not withhold ^(L)discipline from a child;
    ^(M)if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
¹⁴ If you strike him with the rod,
    you will ^(N)save his soul from Sheol.
^15 (O)My son, if your heart is wise,
    my heart too will be glad.
¹⁶ My ^(P)inmost being^[d] will exult
    when your lips speak ^(Q)what is right.
¹⁷ Let not your heart ^(R)envy sinners,
    but continue in ^(S)the fear of the Lord all the day.
¹⁸ Surely ^(T)there is a future,
    and your ^(U)hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹ Hear, my son, and ^(V)be wise,
    and ^(W)direct your heart in the way.
²⁰ Be not among ^(X)drunkards^[e]
    or among ^(Y)gluttonous eaters of meat,
²¹ for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,
    and ^(Z)slumber will clothe them with rags.

^22 (AA)Listen to your father who gave you life,
    ^(AB)and do not despise your mother when she is old.
^23 (AC)Buy truth, and do not sell it;
    buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
^24 (AD)The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
    he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him.
^25 (AE)Let your father and mother be glad;
    let ^(AF)her who bore you rejoice.

²⁶ My son, give me your heart,
    and let your eyes observe^[f] my ways.
²⁷ For a prostitute is ^(AG)a deep pit;
    ^(AH)an adulteress^[g] is a narrow ^(AI)well.
^28 (AJ)She lies in wait like a robber
    and increases the traitors among mankind.

^29 (AK)Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
    Who has strife? Who has complaining?
Who has ^(AL)wounds without cause?
    Who has ^(AM)redness of eyes?
³⁰ Those who ^(AN)tarry long over wine;
    those who go to try ^(AO)mixed wine.
³¹ Do not look at wine when it is red,
    when it sparkles in the cup
    and goes down smoothly.
³² In the end it ^(AP)bites like a serpent
    and stings like an adder.
³³ Your eyes will see strange things,
    and your heart utter ^(AQ)perverse things.
³⁴ You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea,
    like one who lies on the top of a mast.^[h]
35 “They ^(AR)struck me,” you will say,^[i] “but I was not hurt;
    they beat me, but I did not feel it.
When shall I awake?
    I ^(AS)must have another drink.”
24 Be not ^(AT)envious of evil men,
    nor desire to be ^(AU)with them,
² for their hearts ^(AV)devise violence,
    and their lips ^(AW)talk of trouble.

³ By ^(AX)wisdom a house is built,
    and by understanding it is established;
⁴ by knowledge the rooms are filled
    with all ^(AY)precious and pleasant riches.
^5 (AZ)A wise man is full of strength,
    and a man of knowledge enhances his might,
⁶ for by ^(BA)wise guidance you can wage your war,
    and in ^(BB)abundance of counselors there is victory.
⁷ Wisdom is ^(BC)too high for a fool;
    in ^(BD)the gate he does not open his mouth.

⁸ Whoever ^(BE)plans to do evil
    will be called a schemer.
^9 (BF)The devising^[j] of folly is sin,
    and ^(BG)the scoffer is an abomination to mankind.

¹⁰ If you ^(BH)faint in the day of adversity,
    your strength is small.
^11 (BI)Rescue those who are being taken away to death;
    hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter.
¹² If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
    ^(BJ)does not he who ^(BK)weighs the heart perceive it?
Does not he who ^(BL)keeps watch over your soul know it,
    and will he not repay man ^(BM)according to his work?

¹³ My son, ^(BN)eat honey, for it is good,
    and ^(BO)the drippings of the honeycomb are sweet to your taste.
¹⁴ Know that wisdom is such to your soul;
    if you find it, there will be ^(BP)a future,
    and your hope will not be cut off.

^15 (BQ)Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous;
    do no violence to his home;
^16 (BR)for the righteous falls ^(BS)seven times and rises again,
    but ^(BT)the wicked stumble in times of calamity.

^17 (BU)Do not rejoice when your enemy falls,
    and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
¹⁸ lest the Lord see it and be displeased,
    and turn away his anger from him.

^19 (BV)Fret not yourself because of evildoers,
    and be not ^(BW)envious of the wicked,
²⁰ for the evil man has no ^(BX)future;
    ^(BY)the lamp of the wicked will be put out.

²¹ My son, ^(BZ)fear the Lord and the king,
    and do not join with those who do otherwise,
²² for disaster will arise suddenly from them,
    and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?

^(CB)Partiality in judging is not good.
²⁴ Whoever ^(CC)says to the wicked, “You are in the right,”
    ^(CD)will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
²⁵ but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight,
    and a good blessing will come upon them.
²⁶ Whoever gives an honest answer
    kisses the lips.

^27 (CE)Prepare your work outside;
    get everything ready for yourself in the field,
    and after that build your house.

^28 (CF)Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause,
    and do not deceive with your lips.
²⁹ Do not say, ^(CG)“I will do to him as he has done to me;
    I will pay the man back for what he has done.”

^30 (CH)I passed by the field of a sluggard,
    by the vineyard of a man ^(CI)lacking sense,
³¹ and behold, it was all overgrown with thorns;
    the ground was covered with nettles,
    and its stone ^(CJ)wall was broken down.
³² Then I saw and ^(CK)considered it;
    I looked and received instruction.
^33 (CL)A little sleep, a little slumber,
    a little folding of the hands to rest,
³⁴ and poverty will come upon you like a robber,
    and want like an armed man.