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When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you,
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and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite.
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Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
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Do not wear yourself out to get rich; be wise enough to restrain yourself.
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When you glance at wealth, it disappears, for it makes wings for itself and flies like an eagle to the sky.
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Do not eat the bread of a stingy man, and do not crave his delicacies;
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for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you.
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You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words.
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Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
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Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless,
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for their Redeemer is strong; He will take up their case against you.
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Apply your heart to instruction and your ears to words of knowledge.
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Do not withhold discipline from a child; although you strike him with a rod, he will not die.
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Strike him with a rod, and you will deliver his soul from Sheol.
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My son, if your heart is wise, my own heart will indeed rejoice.
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My inmost being will rejoice when your lips speak what is right.
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Do not let your heart envy sinners, but always continue in the fear of the LORD.
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For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
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Listen, my son, and be wise, and guide your heart on the right course.
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Do not join those who drink too much wine or gorge themselves on meat.
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For the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and drowsiness will clothe them in rags.
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Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
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Invest in truth and never sell it— in wisdom and instruction and understanding.
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The father of a righteous man will greatly rejoice, and he who fathers a wise son will delight in him.
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May your father and mother be glad, and may she who gave you birth rejoice!
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My son, give me your heart, and let your eyes delight in my ways.
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For a prostitute is a deep pit, and an adulteress is a narrow well.
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Like a robber she lies in wait and multiplies the faithless among men.
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Who has woe? Who has sorrow? Who has contentions? Who has complaints? Who has needless wounds? Who has bloodshot eyes?
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Those who linger over wine, who go to taste mixed drinks.
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Do not gaze at wine while it is red, when it sparkles in the cup and goes down smoothly.
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In the end it bites like a snake and stings like a viper.
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Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities.
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You will be like one sleeping on the high seas or lying on the top of a mast:
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“They struck me, but I feel no pain! They beat me, but I did not know it! When can I wake up to search for another drink?”