Study Desk

When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what^[a] is before you,

and put a knife to your throat if you have a big^[b] appetite;

don't desire his choice food,^(a) for that food is deceptive.

Don't wear yourself out to get rich;^(b) stop giving your attention to it.

As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,^(c) for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.

Don't eat a stingy person's bread,^[c](d) and don't desire his choice food,^(e)

for it's like someone calculating inwardly.^[d](f) "Eat and drink," he says to you, but his heart is not with you.^(g)

You will vomit the little you've eaten and waste your pleasant words.

Don't speak to^[e] a fool, for he will despise the insight of your words.^(h)

Don't move an ancient boundary marker,⁽ⁱ⁾ and don't encroach on the fields of the fatherless,

for their Redeemer is strong,^(j) and He will take up their case against you.^(k)

Apply yourself to discipline and listen to words of knowledge.

Don't withhold discipline from a youth; if you beat him with a rod, he will not die.^(l)

Strike him with a rod, and you will rescue his life from Sheol.^(m)

My son, if your heart is wise, my heart will indeed rejoice.⁽ⁿ⁾

My innermost being will cheer when your lips say what is right.^(o)

Don't let your heart envy sinners;^(p) instead, always fear the Lord .^(q)

For then you will have a future, and your hope will never fade.^(r)

Listen, my son, and be wise; keep your mind on the right course.

Don't associate with those who drink too much wine^(s) or with those who gorge themselves on meat.^(t)

For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor, and grogginess will clothe them in rags.^(u)

Listen to your father who gave you life, and don't despise your mother when^[f] she is old.^(v)

Buy—and do not sell—truth, wisdom, instruction, and understanding.^(w)

The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly, and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.^(x)

Let your father and mother have joy,^(y) and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways.

For a prostitute is a deep pit,^(z) and a stranger is a narrow well;

indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber^(aa) and increases those among men who are unfaithful.

Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has conflicts? Who has complaints? Who has wounds for no reason?^(ab) Who has red eyes?

Those who linger over wine, those who go looking for mixed wine.^(ac)

Don't gaze at wine because it is red,^(ad) when it gleams in the cup and goes down smoothly.^(ae)

In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.

Your eyes will see strange things, and you will say absurd things.^[g](af)

You'll be like someone sleeping out at sea or lying down on the top of a ship's mast.

"They struck me, but^[h] I feel no pain! They beat me, but I didn't know it!^(ag) When will I wake up? I'll look for another drink."^(ah)