Proverbs 23

^1-3 When you go out to dinner with an influential person,
    mind your manners:
Don’t gobble your food,
    don’t talk with your mouth full.
And don’t stuff yourself;
    bridle your appetite.

While dining with a ruler,
    pay attention to what is put before you.

If you are a big eater,
    put a knife to your throat;

don’t desire all the delicacies,
    for he might be trying to trick you.

Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich;
    restrain yourself!
Riches disappear in the blink of an eye;
    wealth sprouts wings
    and flies off into the wild blue yonder.

Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich.
    Be wise enough to know when to quit.

In the blink of an eye wealth disappears,
    for it will sprout wings
    and fly away like an eagle.

Don’t accept a meal from a tightwad;
    don’t expect anything special.
He’ll be as stingy with you as he is with himself;
    he’ll say, “Eat! Drink!” but won’t mean a word of it.
His miserly serving will turn your stomach
    when you realize the meal’s a sham.

Don’t eat with people who are stingy;
    don’t desire their delicacies.

They are always thinking about how much it costs.^[a]
    “Eat and drink,” they say, but they don’t mean it.

You will throw up what little you’ve eaten,
    and your compliments will be wasted.

Don’t bother talking sense to fools;
    they’ll only poke fun at your words.

Don’t waste your breath on fools,
    for they will despise the wisest advice.

Don’t stealthily move back the boundary lines
    or cheat orphans out of their property,
For they have a powerful Advocate
    who will go to bat for them.

Don’t cheat your neighbor by moving the ancient boundary markers;
    don’t take the land of defenseless orphans.

For their Redeemer^[b] is strong;
    he himself will bring their charges against you.

Give yourselves to disciplined instruction;
    open your ears to tested knowledge.

Commit yourself to instruction;
    listen carefully to words of knowledge.

Don’t be afraid to correct your young ones;
    a spanking won’t kill them.
A good spanking, in fact, might save them
    from something worse than death.

Don’t fail to discipline your children.
    The rod of punishment won’t kill them.

Physical discipline
    may well save them from death.^[c]

Dear child, if you become wise,
    I’ll be one happy parent.
My heart will dance and sing
    to the tuneful truth you’ll speak.

My child,^[d] if your heart is wise,
    my own heart will rejoice!

Everything in me will celebrate
    when you speak what is right.

Don’t for a minute envy careless rebels;
    soak yourself in the Fear-of-God—
That’s where your future lies.
    Then you won’t be left with an armload of nothing.

Don’t envy sinners,
    but always continue to fear the Lord.

You will be rewarded for this;
    your hope will not be disappointed.

Oh listen, dear child—become wise;
    point your life in the right direction.
Don’t drink too much wine and get drunk;
    don’t eat too much food and get fat.
Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row,
    in a stupor and dressed in rags.

My child, listen and be wise:
    Keep your heart on the right course.

Do not carouse with drunkards
    or feast with gluttons,

for they are on their way to poverty,
    and too much sleep clothes them in rags.

Listen with respect to the father who raised you,
    and when your mother grows old, don’t neglect her.
Buy truth—don’t sell it for love or money;
    buy wisdom, buy education, buy insight.
Parents rejoice when their children turn out well;
    wise children become proud parents.
So make your father happy!
    Make your mother proud!

Listen to your father, who gave you life,
    and don’t despise your mother when she is old.

Get the truth and never sell it;
    also get wisdom, discipline, and good judgment.

The father of godly children has cause for joy.
    What a pleasure to have children who are wise.^[e]

So give your father and mother joy!
    May she who gave you birth be happy.

Dear child, I want your full attention;
    please do what I show you.

O my son, give me your heart.
    May your eyes take delight in following my ways.

A whore is a bottomless pit;
    a loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.
She’ll take you for all you’ve got;
    she’s worse than a pack of thieves.

A prostitute is a dangerous trap;
    a promiscuous woman is as dangerous as falling into a narrow well.

She hides and waits like a robber,
    eager to make more men unfaithful.

Who are the people who are always crying the blues?
    Who do you know who reeks of self-pity?
Who keeps getting beat up for no reason at all?
    Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot?
It’s those who spend the night with a bottle,
    for whom drinking is serious business.
Don’t judge wine by its label,
    or its bouquet, or its full-bodied flavor.
Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with—
    the splitting headache, the queasy stomach.
Do you really prefer seeing double,
    with your speech all slurred,
Reeling and seasick,
    drunk as a sailor?
“They hit me,” you’ll say, “but it didn’t hurt;
    they beat on me, but I didn’t feel a thing.
When I’m sober enough to manage it,
    bring me another drink!”