Chapter 23 When you sit down to eat with a ruler Consider carefully what is before you And put a knife to your throat if you Are a man given to appetite Do not desire his Delicacies for they Are deceptive food Do not overwork to be rich Because of your own understanding Cease Will you set your eyes on that which is Not For riches certainly make themselves Wings They fly away like an eagle toward Heaven Do not eat the bread of a miser nor Desire his Delicacies for as he thinks In his heart so is he Eat and drink he says to you but his Heart is not with you The morsel you have eaten you will vomit Up and waste your pleasant words Do not speak in the hearing of a fool For he will despise the wisdom of your Words Do not remove the ancient Landmark nor Enter the fields of the fatherless For their redeemer is mighty he will Plead their cause against you Apply your heart to instruction and your Ears to words of knowledge Do not withhold correction from a child For if you beat him with a rod he will
Not die You shall beat him with a rod and Deliver his soul from hell My son if your heart is wise my heart Will rejoice Indeed I myself Yes my inmost being will rejoice when Your lips speak right things Do not let your heart Envy Sinners but Be zealous for the fear of the Lord all The day For surely there is a Hereafter and your Hope will not be cut off Here my son and be wise and guide your Heart in the way Do not mix with wine bibbers or with Gluttonous Eaters of meat For the drunkard and the Glutton will Come to poverty and drowsiness will Clothe the man with rags Listen to your father who begot you and Do not despise your mother when she is Old By the truth and do not sell it Also wisdom and instruction and Understanding The father of the righteous will greatly Rejoice And he who begets a wise child will Delight in him Let your father and your mother be glad And let her Who Bore you rejoice My son give me your heart and let your Eyes observe my ways
For a harlot is a deep pit and a Seductress is a narrow well She also lies in weight as for a victim And increases the Unfaithful among men Who has woe who has sorrow who has Contentions who has complaints Who has wounds without cause Who has redness of eyes Those who linger long at the wine those Who go in search of mixed wine Do not look on the wine when it is red When it sparkles in the cup when it Swirls around smoothly At the last it bites like a serpent and Stings like a Viper Your eyes will see strange things and Your heart will utter perverse things Yes you will be like one who lies down In the midst of the sea or like one who Lies at the top of the Mast saying They have struck me but I was not hurt They have beaten me but I did not feel It When shall I awake that I may seek Another drink