Proverbs 23:1-35 ESV

[1] When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you, [2] and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite. [3] Do not desire his delicacies, for they are deceptive food. [4] Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist. [5] When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings, flying like an eagle toward heaven. [6] Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies, [7] for he is like one who is inwardly calculating. "Eat and drink!" he says to you, but his heart is not with you. [8] You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten, and waste your pleasant words. [9] Do not speak in the hearing of a fool, for he will despise the good sense of your words. [10] Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless, [11] for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you. [12] Apply your heart to instruction and your ear to words of knowledge. [13] Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you strike him with a rod, he will not die. [14] If you strike him with the rod, you will save his soul from Sheol. [15] My son, if your heart is wise, my heart too will be glad. [16] My inmost being will exult when your lips speak what is right. [17] Let not your heart envy sinners, but continue in the fear of the LORD all the day. [18] Surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off. [19] Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way. [20] Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat, [21] for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags. [22] Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old. [23] Buy truth, and do not sell it; buy wisdom, instruction, and understanding. [24] The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice; he who fathers a wise son will be glad in him. [25] Let your father and mother be glad; let her who bore you rejoice. [26] My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes observe my ways. [27] For a prostitute is a deep pit; an adulteress is a narrow well. [28] She lies in wait like a robber and increases the traitors among mankind. [29] Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has strife? Who has complaining? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? [30] Those who tarry long over wine; those who go to try mixed wine. [31] Do not look at wine when it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly. [32] In the end it bites like a serpent and stings like an adder. [33] Your eyes will see strange things, and your heart utter perverse things. [34] You will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea, like one who lies on the top of a mast. [35] "They struck me," you will say, "but I was not hurt; they beat me, but I did not feel it. When shall I awake? I must have another drink."