Proverbs:23

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* When you sit down to eat with a ruler , Consider carefully what is before you ; * And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite . * Do not desire his delicacies , For they are deceptive food . * Do not overwork to be rich ; Because of your own understanding , cease ! * Will you set your eyes on that which is not ? For riches certainly make themselves wings ; They fly away like an eagle toward heaven . * Do not eat the bread of a miser , Nor desire his delicacies ; * For as he thinks in his heart , so is he . "Eat and drink !" he says to you , But his heart is not with you . * The morsel you have eaten , you will vomit up , And waste your pleasant words . * Do not speak in the hearing of a fool , For he will despise the wisdom of your words . * Do not remove the ancient landmark , Nor enter the fields of the fatherless ; * For their Redeemer is mighty ; He will plead their cause against you . * Apply your heart to instruction , And your ears to words of knowledge . * Do not withhold correction from a child , For if you beat him with a rod , he will not die . * You shall beat him with a rod , And deliver his soul from hell . * My son , if your heart is wise , My heart will rejoice--indeed , I myself ; * Yes , my inmost being will rejoice When your lips speak right things . * Do not let your heart envy sinners , But be zealous for the fear of the LORD all the day ; * For surely there is a hereafter , And your hope will not be cut off . * Hear , my son , and be wise ; And guide your heart in the way . * Do not mix with winebibbers , Or with gluttonous eaters of meat ; * For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty , And drowsiness will clothe a man with rags . * Listen to your father who begot you , And do not despise your mother when she is old . * Buy the truth , and do not sell it , Also wisdom and instruction and understanding . * The father of the righteous will greatly rejoice , And he who begets a wise child will delight in him . * Let your father and your mother be glad , And let her who bore you rejoice . * My son , give me your heart , And let your eyes observe my ways . * For a harlot is a deep pit , And a seductress is a narrow well . * She also lies in wait as for a victim , And increases the unfaithful among men . * Who has woe ? Who has sorrow ? Who has contentions ? Who has complaints ? Who has wounds without cause ? Who has redness of eyes ? * Those who linger long at the wine , Those who go in search of mixed wine . * Do not look on the wine when it is red , When it sparkles in the cup , When it swirls around smoothly ; * At the last it bites like a serpent , And stings like a viper . * Your eyes will see strange things , And your heart will utter perverse things . * Yes , you will be like one who lies down in the midst of the sea , Or like one who lies at the top of the mast , saying : * "They have struck me , but I was not hurt ; They have beaten me , but I did not feel it . When shall I awake , that I may seek another drink ?

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