Read the Bible

¹ When you are invited
to eat with a king,
    use your best manners.
² Don't go and stuff yourself!
    That would be just the same
    as cutting your throat.
³ Don't be greedy for all
of that fancy food!
    It may not be so tasty.

⁴ Give up trying so hard
    to get rich.
⁵ Your money flies away
    before you know it,
    just like an eagle
    suddenly taking off.

⁶ Don't accept an invitation
to eat a selfish person's food,
    no matter how good it is.
⁷ People like that take note
    of how much you eat.^[a]
    They say, "Take all you want!"
    But they don't mean it.
⁸ Each bite will come back up,
    and all your kind words
    will be wasted.

⁹ Don't talk to fools—
    they will just make fun.

¹⁰ Don't move a boundary marker^[b]
    or take the land
    that belongs to orphans.
¹¹ God All-Powerful is there
    to defend them against you.

¹² Listen to instruction
    and do your best to learn.

¹³ Don't fail to correct
    your children.
You won't kill them
    by being firm,
¹⁴     and it may even
    save their lives.

¹⁵ My children,
if you show good sense,
    I will be happy,
¹⁶     and if you are truthful,
    I will really be glad.

¹⁷ Don't be jealous of sinners,
    but always honor the Lord.
¹⁸     Then you will truly have hope
    for the future.

¹⁹ Listen to me, my children!
    Be wise and have enough sense
    to follow the right path.
²⁰ Don't be a heavy drinker
    or stuff yourself with food.
²¹ It will make you feel drowsy,
    and you will end up poor
    with only rags to wear.

²² Pay attention to your father,
    and don't neglect your mother
    when she grows old.
²³ Invest in truth and wisdom,
discipline and good sense,
    and don't part with them.
²⁴ Make your father truly happy
by living right
    and showing
    sound judgment.
²⁵ Make your parents proud,
    especially your mother.

²⁶ My son, pay close attention,
    and gladly follow
    my example.
²⁷ Bad women and unfaithful wives
    are like a deep pit—
²⁸ they are waiting to attack you
    like a gang of robbers
    with victim after victim.

²⁹ Who is always in trouble?
    Who argues and fights?
    Who has cuts and bruises?
    Whose eyes are red?
³⁰ Everyone who stays up late,
    having just one more drink.
³¹ Don't even look
at that colorful stuff
    bubbling up in the glass!
It goes down so easily,
³²     but later it bites
    like a poisonous snake.
³³ You will see weird things,
    and your mind
    will play tricks on you.
³⁴ You will feel tossed about
    like someone trying to sleep
    on a ship in a storm.
³⁵ You will be bruised all over,
    without even remembering
    how it all happened.
And you will lie awake asking,
    "When will morning come,
    so I can drink some more?"