Proverbs 23:1-14 ▼

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.