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On Life and Conduct

¹ When you sit down to dine with a ruler,
Consider carefully ^(F1)what is before you,

² And put a knife to your throat
If you are a ^(C1)man of great appetite.

³ Do not ^(C1)desire his delicacies,
For it is deceptive food.

^4 (C1)Do not weary yourself to gain wealth,
^(C2)Cease from your ^(F1)consideration of it.

^5 (F1)When you set your eyes on it, it is gone.
For ^(C1)wealth certainly makes itself wings
Like an eagle that flies toward the heavens.

^6 (C1)Do not eat the bread of ^(F1)a ^(C2)selfish man,
Or desire his delicacies;

⁷ For as he ^(F1)thinks within himself, so he is.
He says to you, "Eat and drink!"
But ^(C1)his heart is not with you.

⁸ You will ^(C1)vomit up ^(F1)the morsel you have eaten,
And waste your ^(F2)compliments.

^9 (C1)Do not speak in the ^(F1)hearing of a fool,
For he will ^(C2)despise the wisdom of your words.

¹⁰ Do not move the ancient boundary
Or ^(C1)go into the fields of the fatherless,

¹¹ For their ^(C1)Redeemer is strong;
^(C2)He will plead their case against you.

¹² Apply your heart to discipline
And your ears to words of knowledge.

^13 (C1)Do not hold back discipline from the child,
Although you ^(F1)strike him with the rod, he will not die.

¹⁴ You shall ^(F1)strike him with the rod
And ^(C1)rescue his soul from Sheol.

¹⁵ My son, if your heart is ^(C1)wise,
My own heart also will be glad;

¹⁶ And my ^(F1)inmost being will rejoice
When your lips speak ^(C1)what is right.

^17 (C1)Do not let your heart envy sinners,
But live in the ^(F1)(C2)fear of the LORD ^(F2)always.

¹⁸ Surely there is a ^(F1)(C1)future,
And your ^(C2)hope will not be cut off.

¹⁹ Listen, my son, and ^(C1)be wise,
And ^(C2)direct your heart in the way.

²⁰ Do not be with ^(C1)heavy drinkers of wine,
Or with ^(C2)gluttonous eaters of meat;

²¹ For the ^(C1)heavy drinker and the glutton will come to poverty,
And ^(C2)drowsiness will clothe one with rags.

^22 (C1)Listen to your father who begot you,
And ^(C2)do not despise your mother when she is old.

^23 (C1)Buy truth, and do not sell it,
Get wisdom and instruction and understanding.

²⁴ The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice,
And ^(C1)he who sires a wise son will be glad in him.

²⁵ Let your ^(C1)father and your mother be glad,
And let her rejoice who gave birth to you.

^26 (C1)Give me your heart, my son,
And let your eyes ^(F1)(C2)delight in my ways.

²⁷ For a harlot is a ^(C1)deep pit
And an ^(F1)(C2)adulterous woman is a narrow well.

²⁸ Surely she ^(C1)lurks as a robber,
And increases the ^(F1)faithless among men.

²⁹ Who has ^(C1)woe? Who has sorrow?
Who has contentions? Who has complaining?
Who has wounds without cause?
Who has redness of eyes?

³⁰ Those who ^(C1)linger long over wine,
Those who go to ^(F1)taste ^(C2)mixed wine.

³¹ Do not look on the wine when it is red,
When it ^(F1)sparkles in the cup,
When it ^(C1)goes down smoothly;

³² At the last it ^(C1)bites like a serpent
And stings like a ^(C2)viper.

³³ Your eyes will see strange things
And your ^(F1)mind will ^(C1)utter perverse things.

³⁴ And you will be like one who lies down in the ^(F1)middle of the sea,
Or like one who lies down on the top of a ^(F2)mast.

³⁵ "They ^(C1)struck me, but I did not become ^(F1)ill;
They beat me, but I did not know it.
When shall I awake?
I will ^(C2)seek ^(F2)another drink."