| 1 | When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, Thou considerest diligently that which [is] before thee, |
| 2 | And thou hast put a knife to thy throat, If thou [art] a man of appetite. |
| 3 | Have no desire to his dainties, seeing it [is] lying food. |
| 4 | Labour not to make wealth, From thine own understanding cease, Dost thou cause thine eyes to fly upon it? Then it is not. |
| 5 | For wealth maketh to itself wings, As an eagle it flieth to the heavens. |
| 6 | Eat not the bread of an evil eye, And have no desire to his dainties, |
| 7 | For as he hath thought in his soul, so [is] he, 'Eat and drink,' saith he to thee, And his heart [is] not with thee. |
| 8 | Thy morsel thou hast eaten thou dost vomit up, And hast marred thy words that [are] sweet. |
| 9 | In the ears of a fool speak not, For he treadeth on the wisdom of thy words. |
| 10 | Remove not a border of olden times, And into fields of the fatherless enter not, |
| 11 | For their Redeemer [is] strong, He doth plead their cause with thee. |
| 12 | Bring in to instruction thy heart, And thine ear to sayings of knowledge. |
| 13 | Withhold not from a youth chastisement, When thou smitest him with a rod he dieth not. |
| 14 | Thou with a rod smitest him, And his soul from Sheol thou deliverest. |
| 15 | My son, if thy heart hath been wise, My heart rejoiceth, even mine, |
| 16 | And my reins exult when thy lips speak uprightly. |
| 17 | Let not thy heart be envious at sinners, But—in the fear of Jehovah all the day. |
| 18 | For, is there a posterity? Then thy hope is not cut off. |
| 19 | Hear thou, my son, and be wise, And make happy in the way thy heart, |
| 20 | Be not thou among quaffers of wine, Among gluttonous ones of flesh, |
| 21 | For the quaffer and glutton become poor, And drowsiness clotheth with rags. |
| 22 | Hearken to thy father, who begat thee, And despise not thy mother when she hath become old. |
| 23 | Truth buy, and sell not, Wisdom, and instruction, and understanding, |
| 24 | The father of the righteous rejoiceth greatly, The begetter of the wise rejoiceth in him. |
| 25 | Rejoice doth thy father and thy mother, Yea, she that bare thee is joyful. |
| 26 | Give, my son, thy heart to me, And let thine eyes watch my ways. |
| 27 | For a harlot [is] a deep ditch, And a strange woman [is] a strait pit. |
| 28 | She also, as catching prey, lieth in wait, And the treacherous among men she increaseth. |
| 29 | Who hath wo? who hath sorrow? Who hath contentions? who hath plaint? Who hath wounds without cause? Who hath redness of eyes? |
| 30 | Those tarrying by the wine, Those going in to search out mixed wine. |
| 31 | See not wine when it showeth itself red, When it giveth in the cup its colour, It goeth up and down through the upright. |
| 32 | Its latter end—as a serpent it biteth, And as a basilisk it stingeth. |
| 33 | Thine eyes see strange women, And thy heart speaketh perverse things. |
| 34 | And thou hast been as one lying down in the heart of the sea, And as one lying down on the top of a mast. |
| 35 | 'They smote me, I have not been sick, They beat me, I have not known. When I awake—I seek it yet again!' |