Proverbs 23

1If you sit down to dine at a table of princes, Understand carefully the things put before you;

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2And apply your hand, Knowing you should prepare certain things;

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3And if you are insatiable, do not desire its delicacies, For these things belong to a false life.

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4If you are poor, do not measure yourself with a rich man, But keep away from this in your thinking;

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5If you fix your eye on him, he will disappear, For wings like an eagle's are prepared for him, And he returns to the house of his master.

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6Do not dine with an envious man, Neither desire his foods;

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7For as someone who may swallow a hair, So he eats and drinks.

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8Neither invite him in, nor eat your morsel with him; For he will vomit it forth and maltreat your good words.

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9Speak nothing into the ears of a man without discernment, Lest he treat your wise words with contempt.

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10Do not remove the eternal landmarks, And do not enter the possession of orphans.

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11For the Lord who redeems them is mighty, And He will judge their cause with you.

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12Give your heart to instruction, And prepare your ears for words of perception.

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13Do not withhold instruction from a child, For if you should strike him with a rod, he would not die;

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14For you shall strike him with a rod And deliver his soul from death.

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15My son, if your heart becomes wise, You will also gladden my heart;

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16And your lips shall spend time with the words on my lips, If they be upright.

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17Do not let your heart envy sinners, But be in fear of the Lord the whole day long.

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18For if you keep these words, you shall have offspring, And your hope will not depart from you.

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19Hear, my son, and become wise, And direct aright the thoughts of your heart.

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20Do not be a wine-bibber, Neither provide contributions of meats or goods at drinking parties.

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21For every drunkard and fornicator shall become impoverished, And every sluggard shall clothe himself with tattered and ragged garments.

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22Hear, my son, your father who begot you, And do not despise your mother because she has grown old.

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23A righteous father rears his child well, And his soul rejoices in a wise son.

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24Let your father and mother be glad in you, And let her who bore you rejoice.

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25My son, give me your heart, And let your eyes observe my ways;

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26For a house of prostitution is a pierced vessel And a strange and empty well;

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27For he shall perish suddenly, And every lawless man shall be destroyed.

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28Who has woe? Who has tumult? Who has condemnation? Who has unpleasantness and gossip? Who has afflictions with no purpose? Whose eyes are pale?

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29Is it not those who linger long with wines? Is it not those who hunt for the whereabouts of drinking parties?

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30Do not be drunk with wine, but keep company with righteous men, And keep company in public walks;

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31For if you set your eyes to the bowls and cups, Afterward you will walk about more naked than ground meat.

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32And at last, he stretches himself out as one bitten by a serpent, And the venom spreads through him as one bitten by a horned serpent.

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33When your eyes behold a strange woman, Then your mouth will speak twisted things;

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34And you will lie down as in the heart of the sea And as a pilot in a great storm;

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35And you will say, 'They beat me, but I did not suffer, And they mocked me, but I knew it not;

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36When will it be morning, That I may go seek those with whom I may company?'

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