| 23:1 | [NASB] When you sit down to dine with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you, |
| 23:2 | [NASB] And put a knife to your throat If you are a man of {great} appetite. |
| 23:3 | [NASB] Do not desire his delicacies, For it is deceptive food. |
| 23:4 | [NASB] Do not weary yourself to gain wealth, Cease from your consideration {of it.} |
| 23:5 | [NASB] When you set your eyes on it, it is gone. For {wealth} certainly makes itself wings Like an eagle that flies {toward} the heavens. |
| 23:6 | [NASB] Do not eat the bread of a selfish man, Or desire his delicacies; |
| 23:7 | [NASB] For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, "Eat and drink!" But his heart is not with you. |
| 23:8 | [NASB] You will vomit up the morsel you have eaten, And waste your compliments. |
| 23:9 | [NASB] Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, For he will despise the wisdom of your words. |
| 23:10 | [NASB] Do not move the ancient boundary Or go into the fields of the fatherless, |
| 23:11 | [NASB] For their Redeemer is strong; He will plead their case against you. |
| 23:12 | [NASB] Apply your heart to discipline And your ears to words of knowledge. |
| 23:13 | [NASB] Do not hold back discipline from the child, Although you strike him with the rod, he will not die. |
| 23:14 | [NASB] You shall strike him with the rod And rescue his soul from Sheol. |
| 23:15 | [NASB] My son, if your heart is wise, My own heart also will be glad; |
| 23:16 | [NASB] And my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak what is right. |
| 23:17 | [NASB] Do not let your heart envy sinners, But {live} in the fear of the LORD always. |
| 23:18 | [NASB] Surely there is a future, And your hope will not be cut off. |
| 23:19 | [NASB] Listen, my son, and be wise, And direct your heart in the way. |
| 23:20 | [NASB] Do not be with heavy drinkers of wine, {Or} with gluttonous eaters of meat; |
| 23:21 | [NASB] For the heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty, And drowsiness will clothe {one} with rags. |
| 23:22 | [NASB] Listen to your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother when she is old. |
| 23:23 | [NASB] Buy truth, and do not sell {it,} {Get} wisdom and instruction and understanding. |
| 23:24 | [NASB] The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice, And he who sires a wise son will be glad in him. |
| 23:25 | [NASB] Let your father and your mother be glad, And let her rejoice who gave birth to you. |
| 23:26 | [NASB] Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways. |
| 23:27 | [NASB] For a harlot is a deep pit And an adulterous woman is a narrow well. |
| 23:28 | [NASB] Surely she lurks as a robber, And increases the faithless among men. |
| 23:29 | [NASB] Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? |
| 23:30 | [NASB] Those who linger long over wine, Those who go to taste mixed wine. |
| 23:31 | [NASB] Do not look on the wine when it is red, When it sparkles in the cup, When it goes down smoothly; |
| 23:32 | [NASB] At the last it bites like a serpent And stings like a viper. |
| 23:33 | [NASB] Your eyes will see strange things And your mind will utter perverse things. |
| 23:34 | [NASB] And you will be like one who lies down in the middle of the sea, Or like one who lies down on the top of a mast. |
| 23:35 | [NASB] "They struck me, {but} I did not become ill; They beat me, {but} I did not know {it.} When shall I awake? I will seek another drink." |
