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23
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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