Proverbs 23:1-13

23:1 When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

consider carefully what is before you,

23:2 and put a knife to your throat

if you possess a large appetite.

23:3 Do not crave that ruler’s delicacies,

for that food is deceptive.

23:4 Do not wear yourself out to become rich;

be wise enough to restrain yourself.

23:5 When you gaze upon riches, they are gone,

for they surely make wings for themselves,

and fly off into the sky like an eagle!

23:6 Do not eat the food of a stingy person,

do not crave his delicacies;

23:7 for he is like someone calculating the cost in his mind.

“Eat and drink,” he says to you,

but his heart is not with you;

23:8 you will vomit up the little bit you have eaten,

and will have wasted your pleasant words.

23:9 Do not speak in the ears of a fool,

for he will despise the wisdom of your words.

23:10 Do not move an ancient boundary stone,

or take over the fields of the fatherless,

23:11 for their Protector is strong;

he will plead their case against you.

23:12 Apply your heart to instruction

and your ears to the words of knowledge.

23:13 Do not withhold discipline from a child;

even if you strike him with the rod, he will not die.