Proverbs 23:1-14 ▼

1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,

2 and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.

3 Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food.

4 Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.

5 When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven.

6 Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,

7 for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.

8 You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words.

9 Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words.

10 Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,

11 for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.

12 Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge.

13 Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die.

14 If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol.