23 When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
consider carefully what^[a] is before you,
² and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big^[b] appetite;
³ don’t desire his choice food,^(A)
for that food is deceptive.

⁶ Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,^[a](A)
and don’t desire his choice food,^(B)
7 for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.^[b](C)
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.^(D)
8 You will vomit the little you’ve eaten
and waste your pleasant words.

⁹ Don’t speak to^[c] a fool,
for he will despise the insight of your words.^(E)

⁶ The wounds of a friend are trustworthy,^(A)
but the kisses of an enemy are excessive.^(B)

⁵ A person who flatters his neighbor
spreads a net for his feet.^(A)