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If thou sit to sup at the table of a prince, Consider attentively the things set before thee:
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And apply thy hand, Knowing that it behooves thee to prepare such meats: But if thou art very insatiable,
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desire not his provisions; For these belong to a false life.
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If thou art poor, measure not thyself with a rich man; But refrain thyself in thy wisdom.
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If thou shouldest fix thine eye upon 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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Sup not with an envious man, Neither desire thou his meats:
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So he eats and drinks As if anyone should swallow a hair, And do not bring him in to thyself, nor eat thy morsel with him:
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For he will vomit it up, and spoil thy fair words.
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Say nothing in the ears of a fool, Lest at any time he sneer at thy wise words.
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Remove not the ancient landmarks; And enter not upon the possession of the fatherless:
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For the Lord is their redeemer; He is mighty, and will plead their cause with thee.
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Apply thy heart to instruction, And prepare thine ears for words of discretion.
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Refrain not from chastening a child; For if thou beat him with the rod, he shall not die.
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For thou shalt beat him with the rod, And shalt deliver his soul from death.
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Son, if thy heart be wise, Thou shalt also gladden my heart;
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And thy lips shall converse with my lips, If they be right.
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Let not thy heart envy sinners: But be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day.
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For if thou shouldest keep these things, thou shalt have posterity; And thy hope shall not be removed.
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Hear, my son, and be wise, And rightly direct the thoughts of thy heart.
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Be not a wine bibber, Neither continue long at feasts, and purchases of flesh:
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For every drunkard and whoremonger shall be poor; And every sluggard shall clothe himself with tatters and ragged garments.
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Hearken, my son, to thy father which begot thee, And despise not thy mother because she is grown old.
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A righteous father brings up his children well; And his soul rejoices over a wise son.
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Let thy father and thy mother rejoice over thee, And let her that bore thee be glad.
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My son, give me thy heart, And let thine eyes observe my ways.
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For a strange house is a vessel full of holes; And a strange well is narrow.
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For such a one shall perish suddenly; And every transgressor shall be cut off.
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Who has woe? who trouble? who has quarrels? And who vexations and disputes? Who has bruises without a cause? Whose eyes are livid?
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Are not those of them that stay long at wine? Are not those of them that haunt the places where banquets are? Be not drunk with wine; but converse with just men, And converse with them openly.
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For if thou shouldest set thine eyes on bowls and cups, Thou shalt afterward go more naked than a pestle.
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But at last such a one stretches himself out as one smitten by a serpent, And venom is diffused through him as by a horned serpent.
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Whenever thine eyes shall behold a strange woman, Then thy mouth shall speak perverse things.
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And thou shalt lie as in the midst of the sea, And as a pilot in a great storm.
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And thou shalt say, They smote me, and I was not pained; And they mocked me, and I knew it not: When will it be morning, that I may go and seek those with whom I may go in company?