Online Bible

When you sit down to dine with a ruler,Consider carefully what is set before you;2 For you will put a knife to your throatIf you are a ^aman of great appetite.3 Do not ^adesire his delicacies,For it is deceptive food offered to you with questionable motives.

4 ^aDo not weary yourself with the overwhelming desire to gain wealth;^bCease from your own understanding of it. Prov 28:20; 1+@Tim 6:9, 105 When you set your eyes on wealth, it is suddenly gone.For ^awealth certainly makes itself wingsLike an eagle that flies to the heavens.

6 ^aDo not eat the bread of a ^bselfish man,Or desire his delicacies;7 For as he thinks in his heart, so is he in behavior—one who manipulates.He says to you, “Eat and drink,”Yet ^ahis heart is not with you but it is begrudging the cost.8 The morsel which you have eaten you will ^avomit up,And you will waste your compliments.

9 ^aDo not speak in the ears of a fool,For he will ^bdespise the godly wisdom of your words. Is 32:6

10 Do not move the ancient landmark at the boundary of the propertyAnd do not ^ago into the fields of the fatherless to take what is theirs, Deut 19:14; 27:17; Prov 22:2811 For their ^aRedeemer is strong and mighty;^bHe will plead their case against you.12 Apply your heart to disciplineAnd your ears to words of knowledge.

13 ^aDo not withhold discipline from the child;If you ¹swat him with a reed-like rod applied with godly wisdom, he will not die.14 You shall ¹swat him with the reed-like rodAnd ^arescue his life from Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead) .

15 My son, if your heart is ^awise,My heart will also be glad;16 Yes, my heart will rejoiceWhen your lips speak ^aright things.

17 ^aDo not let your heart envy sinners who live godless lives and have no hope of salvation,But continue to live in the reverent, worshipful ^bfear of the LORD day by day.18 Surely there is a ^afuture and a reward,And your ^bhope and expectation will not be cut off.19 Listen, my son, and ^abe wise,And ^bdirect your heart in the way of the LORD.20 Do not associate with heavy drinkers of ^awine,Or with ^bgluttonous eaters of meat, Is 5:22; Luke 21:34; Rom 13:13; Eph 5:1821 For the ^aheavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,And the ^bdrowsiness of overindulgence will clothe one with rags.

22 ^aListen to your father, who sired you,And do not ^bdespise your mother when she is old.23 ¹^aBuy truth, and do not sell it;Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

24 The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,And ^ahe who sires a wise child will have joy in him.25 Let your ^afather and your mother be glad,And let her who gave birth to you rejoice in your wise and godly choices.

26 My son, ^agive me your heartAnd let your eyes ^bdelight in my ways,27 For a prostitute is a ^adeep pit,And an ^bimmoral woman is a narrow well.28 She lurks and ^alies in wait like a robber who waits for prey,And she increases the faithless among men.

29 Who has ^awoe? Who has sorrow?Who has strife? Who has complaining?Who has wounds without cause?Whose eyes are red and dim?30 Those who ^alinger long over wine,Those who go to taste ^bmixed wine. Prov 20:1; Eph 5:1831 Do not look at wine when it is red,When it sparkles in the glass,When it ^agoes down smoothly.32 At the last it ^abites like a serpentAnd stings like a ^bviper.33 Your drunken eyes will see strange thingsAnd your mind will ^autter perverse things untrue things, twisted things.34 And you will be as unsteady as one who lies down in the middle of the sea,And as vulnerable to disaster as one who lies down on the top of a ship’s mast, saying,35 “They ^astruck me, but I was not hurt!They beat me, but I did not feel it!When will I wake up?I will ^bseek more wine.”