Proverbs 23

1When thou sittest
to eat with a ruler,
consider diligently
what is before thee:

2And put a knife
to thy throat,
if thou be a man
given to appetite.

3Be not desirous
of his dainties:
for they are
deceitful meat.

4Labour not
to be rich:
cease from
thine own wisdom.

5Wilt thou
set thine eyes upon
that which is not?
for riches certainly
make themselves wings;
they fly away
as an eagle
toward heaven.

6Eat thou not
the bread of him
that hath an evil eye,
neither desire thou
his dainty meats:

7For as he thinketh
in his heart,
so is he:
Eat and drink,
saith he to thee;
but his heart
is not with thee.

8The morsel
which thou hast eaten
shalt thou vomit up,
and lose thy sweet words.

9Speak not
in the ears of a fool:
for he will despise
the wisdom of thy words.

10Remove not
the old landmark; and
enter not
into the fields
of the fatherless:

11For their Redeemer
is mighty;
He shall plead
their cause with thee.

12Apply thine heart
unto instruction,
and thine ears
to the words
of knowledge.

13Withhold not
correction from the child:
for if thou beatest him
with the rod,
he shall not die.

14Thou shalt beat him
with the rod,
and shalt deliver his soul
from hell.

15My son,
if thine heart
be wise,
my heart shall rejoice,
even mine.

16Yea,
my reins shall rejoice,
when thy lips
speak right things.

17Let not thine heart
envy sinners:
but be thou in the fear
of the LORD
all the day long.

18For surely
there is an end; and
thine expectation
shall not be
cut off.

19Hear thou,
my son, and
be wise, and
guide thine heart
in the way.

20Be not
among winebibbers;
among riotous eaters
of flesh:

21For the drunkard
and the glutton
shall come to poverty:
and drowsiness
shall clothe a man
with rags.

22Hearken
unto thy father
that begat thee,
and despise not
thy mother when
she is old.

23Buy the truth,
and sell it not;
also wisdom,
and instruction,
and understanding.

24The father
of the righteous
shall greatly rejoice:
and he that begetteth
a wise child
shall have joy
of him.

25Thy father
and thy mother
shall be glad,
and she that bare thee
shall rejoice.

26My son,
give me thine heart, and
let thine eyes
observe my ways.

27For a whore
is a deep ditch; and
a strange woman is
a narrow pit.

28She also lieth in wait
as for a prey,
and increaseth the transgressors
among men.

29Who hath woe?
who hath sorrow?
who hath contentions?
who hath babbling?
who hath wounds without cause?
who hath redness of eyes?

30They that tarry long
at the wine;
they that go to seek
mixed wine.

31Look not thou
upon the wine when it is red,
when it giveth his colour
in the cup,
when it moveth itself aright.

32At the last it biteth
like a serpent,
and stingeth
like an adder.

33Thine eyes
shall behold
strange women, and
thine heart
shall utter perverse things.

34Yea,
thou shalt be
as he that lieth down
in the midst of the sea,
or as he that lieth
upon the top of a mast.

35They have stricken me,
shalt thou say,
and I was not sick;
they have beaten me,
and I felt it not:
when shall I awake?
I will seek it
yet again.