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[1]If thou sit to sup at the table of a prince, consider attentively the things set before thee:
[2]and apply thine hand, knowing that it behoves thee to prepare such meats: but if thou art very insatiable,
[3]desire not his provisions; for these belong to a false life.
[4]If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; but refrain thyself in thy wisdom.
[5]If thou shouldest fix thine eye upon him, he will disappear; for wings like an eagle's are prepared for him, and he returns to the house of his master.
[6]Sup not with an envious man, neither desire thou his meats:
[7]so he eats and drinks as if any one should swallow a hair, and do not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
[8]for he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.
[9]Say nothing in the ears of a fool, lest at any time he sneer at thy wise words.
[10]Remove not the ancient landmarks; and enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:
[11]for the Lord is their redeemer; he is mighty, and will plead their cause with thee.
[12]Apply thine heart to instruction, and prepare thine ears for words of discretion.
[13]Refrain not from chastening a child; for if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
[14]For thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from death.
[15]Son, if thy heart be wise, thou shalt also gladden my heart;
[16]and thy lips shall converse with my lips, if they be right.
[17]Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day.
[18]For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have posterity; and thine hope shall not be removed.
[19]Hear, my son, and be wise, and rightly direct the thoughts of thine heart.
[20]Be not a wine-bibber, neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
[21]for every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; and every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
[22]Hearken, my son, to thy father which begot thee, and despise not thy mother because she is grown old.
[23][No verse]
[24]A righteous father brings up his children well; and his soul rejoices over a wise son.
[25]Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, and let her that bore thee be glad.
[26]My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
[27]For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; and a strange well is narrow.
[28]For such a one shall perish suddenly; and every transgressor shall be cut off.
[29]Who has woe? who trouble? who has quarrels? and who vexations and disputes? who has bruises without a cause? whose eyes are livid?
[30]Are not those of them that stay long at wine? are not those of them that haunt the places where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, and converse with them openly.
[31]For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, thou shalt afterwards go more naked than a pestle.
[32]But at last such a one stretches himself out as one smitten by a serpent, and venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
[33]Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, then thy mouth shall speak perverse things.
[34]And thou shalt lie as in the midst of the sea, and as a pilot in a great storm.
[35]And thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained; and they mocked me, and I knew it not: when will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?
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