Dual Panel1When you sit down to dine with a ruler, give heed to what is before you.
2Cut down your appetite if you are a greedy person.
3Do not hanker after his dainties, for they are not what they seem.
4Do not slave to get wealth; be sensible, and desist.
5Before you can look around it is gone! It will surely grow wings like an eagle, like a bird in the sky.
6Do not go to dine with a miserly person, and do not hanker after his dainties;
7for they will stick in your throat like a hair. He will bid you eat and drink, but in his heart he does not mean it;
8you will bring up the morsel you have eaten, and your compliments will have been wasted.
9Do not address yourself to a stupid person, for he will disdain your words of wisdom.
10Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the land of the fatherless:
11they have a powerful Guardian who will take up their cause against you.
12Apply your mind to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
13Do not withhold discipline from a boy; take the stick to him, and save him from death.
14If you take the stick to him yourself, you will be preserving him from Sheol.
15My son, if you are wise at heart, my heart in turn will be glad;
16I shall rejoice with all my soul when your lips utter what is right.
17Do not try to emulate sinners; emulate only those who fear the LORD all their days;
18do this, and you may look forward to the future, and your hopes will not be cut short.
19Listen, my son, and become wise; set your mind on the right course.
20Do not keep company with drunkards or those who are greedy for the fleshpots.
21The drunkard and the glutton will end in poverty; in a state of stupor they are reduced to rags.
22Listen to your father, who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
23Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding.
24A good man's father will rejoice and he who has a wise son will delight in him.
25Give your father and mother cause for delight; may she who bore you rejoice.
26My son, pay attention to me and accept my guidance willingly.
27A prostitute is a deep pit, a loose woman a narrow well;
28the one lies in wait like a robber, the other is unfaithful with man after man.
29Whose is the misery? Whose the remorse? Whose are the quarrels and the anxiety? Who gets the bruises without knowing why? Whose eyes are bloodshot?
30Those who linger late over their wine, those always sampling some new spiced liquor.
31Do not gulp down the wine, the strong red wine, when the droplets form on the side of the cup.
32It may flow smoothly but in the end it will bite like a snake and poison like a cobra.
33Then your eyes will see strange sights, your wits and your speech will be confused;
34you become like a man tossing out at sea, like one who clings to the top of the rigging;
35you say, “If I am struck down, what do I care? If I am overcome, what of it? As soon as I wake up, I shall turn to the wine again.”