^21-22 My son, watch your step before the Lord and the king, and don’t associate with radicals. For you will go down with them to sudden disaster, and who knows where it all will end?

^2-3 It is God’s privilege to conceal things, and the king’s privilege to discover and invent. You cannot understand the height of heaven, the size of the earth, or all that goes on in the king’s mind!

^4-5 When you remove dross from silver, you have sterling ready for the silversmith. When you remove corrupt men from the king’s court, his reign will be just and fair.

^6-7 Don’t demand an audience with the king as though you were some powerful prince. It is better to wait for an invitation rather than to be sent back to the end of the line, publicly disgraced!

⁴ A just king gives stability to his nation, but one who demands bribes destroys it.

¹⁴ A king who is fair to the poor shall have a long reign.

⁴ And it is not for kings, O Lemuel, to drink wine and whiskey. ⁵ For if they drink, they may forget their duties and be unable to give justice to those who are oppressed. ^6-7 Hard liquor is for sick men at the brink of death, and wine for those in deep depression. Let them drink to forget their poverty and misery.