Read the Bible

¹ When you sit down to dine with a ruler,² and put a knife to your throat
if you have a big^(F1) appetite;³ don’t desire his choice food,^(C1)
for that food is deceptive.

⁴ Don’t wear yourself out to get rich;^(C1)
because you know better, stop!⁵ As soon as your eyes fly to it, it disappears,^(C1)
for it makes wings for itself
and flies like an eagle to the sky.

⁶ Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,^(F1)(C1)
and don’t desire his choice food,^(C2)7 for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.^(F1)(C1)
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.^(C2)8 You will vomit the little you’ve eaten
and waste your pleasant words.

⁹ Don’t speak to^(F1) a fool,
for he will despise the insight of your words.^(C1)

¹⁰ Don’t move an ancient boundary marker,^(C1)
and don’t encroach on the fields of the fatherless,¹¹ for their Redeemer is strong,^(C1)
and he will champion their cause against you.^(C2)

¹² Apply yourself to discipline
and listen to words of knowledge.

¹³ Don’t withhold discipline from a youth;
if you punish him with a rod, he will not die.^(C1)14 Punish him with a rod,
and you will rescue his life from Sheol.^(C1)

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is wise,
my heart will indeed rejoice.^(C1)16 My innermost being will celebrate
when your lips say what is right.^(C1)

¹⁷ Don’t let your heart envy sinners;^(C1)
instead, always fear the Lord.^(C2)18 For then you will have a future,
and your hope will not be dashed.^(C1)

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and be wise;
keep your mind on the right course.²⁰ Don’t associate with those who drink too much wine^(C1)
or with those who gorge themselves on meat.^(C2)21 For the drunkard and the glutton will become poor,
and grogginess will clothe them in rags.^(C1)

²² Listen to your father who gave you life,
and don’t despise your mother when^(F1) she is old.^(C1)23 Buy—and do not sell—truth,
wisdom, instruction, and understanding.^(C1)24 The father of a righteous son will rejoice greatly,
and one who fathers a wise son will delight in him.^(C1)25 Let your father and mother have joy,^(C1)
and let her who gave birth to you rejoice.

²⁶ My son, give me your heart,
and let your eyes observe my ways.²⁷ For a prostitute is a deep pit,^(C1)
and a wayward woman is a narrow well;²⁸ indeed, she sets an ambush like a robber^(C1)
and increases the number of unfaithful people.

²⁹ Who has woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has conflicts? Who has complaints?
Who has wounds for no reason?^(C1)
Who has red eyes?³⁰ Those who linger over wine;
those who go looking for mixed wine.^(C1)31 Don’t gaze at wine because it is red,^(C1)
because it gleams in the cup
and goes down smoothly.^(C2)32 In the end it bites like a snake
and stings like a viper.³³ Your eyes will see strange things,
and you will say absurd things.^(F1)(C1)34 You’ll be like someone sleeping out at sea
or lying down on the top of a ship’s mast.³⁵ “They struck me, but^(F1) I feel no pain!
They beat me, but I didn’t know it!^(C1)
When will I wake up?
I’ll look for another drink.”^(C2)