- 1
- When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider well him that is before thee;
- 2
- And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
- 3
- Be not desirous of his dainties;
seeing they are deceitful food.
- 4
- Weary not thyself to be rich;
cease from thine own wisdom.
- 5
- Wilt thou set thine eyes upon it?
it is gone;
for riches certainly make themselves wings, like an eagle that flieth toward heaven.
- 6
- Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainties;
- 7
- For as one that hath reckoned within himself, so is he: "Eat and drink", saith he to thee;
but his heart is not with thee.
- 8
- The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
- 9
- Speak not in the ears of a fool;
for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
- 10
- Remove not the ancient landmark;
and enter not into the fields of the fatherless;
- 11
- For their Redeemer is strong;
He will plead their cause with thee.
- 12
- Apply thy heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
- 13
- Withhold not correction from the child;
for though thou beat him with the rod, he will not die.
- 14
- Thou beatest him with the rod, and wilt deliver his soul from the nether-world.
- 15
- My son, if thy heart be wise, my heart will be glad, even mine;
- 16
- Yea, my reins will rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
- 17
- Let not thy heart envy sinners, but be in the fear of the LORD all the day;
- 18
- For surely there is a future;
and thy hope shall not be cut off.
- 19
- Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thy heart in the way.
- 20
- Be not among winebibbers;
among gluttonous eaters of flesh;
- 21
- For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty;
and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
- 22
- Hearken unto thy father that begot thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
- 23
- Buy the truth, and sell it not;
also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
- 24
- The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice;
and he that begetteth a wise child will have joy of him.
- 25
- Let thy father and thy mother be glad, and let her that bore thee rejoice.
- 26
- My son, give me thy heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
- 27
- For a harlot is a deep ditch;
and an alien woman is a narrow pit.
- 28
- She also lieth in wait as a robber, and increaseth the faithless among men.
- 29
- Who crieth: "Woe"?
who: "Alas"?
Who hath contentions?
who hath raving?
who hath wounds without cause?
who hath redness of eyes?
- 30
- They that tarry long at the wine;
they that go to try mixed wine.
- 31
- Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth its colour in the cup, when it glideth down smoothly;
- 32
- At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like a basilisk.
- 33
- Thine eyes shall behold strange things, and thy heart shall utter confused things.
- 34
- Yea, 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.
- 35
- "They have struck me, and I felt it not, they have beaten me, and I knew it not;
when shall I awake?
I will seek it yet again."
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