English Standard Version

Proverbs 23:1-11 English Standard Version (ESV)

1. When you sit down to eat with a ruler,observe carefully what is before you,

2. and put a knife to your throatif you are given to appetite.

3. Do not desire his delicacies,for they are deceptive food.

4. Do not toil to acquire wealth; be discerning enough to desist.

5. When your eyes light on it, it is gone, for suddenly it sprouts wings,flying like an eagle toward heaven.

6. Do not eat the bread of a man who is stingy; do not desire his delicacies,

7. for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.“Eat and drink!” he says to you,but his heart is not with you.

8. You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,and waste your pleasant words.

9. Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,for he will despise the good sense of your words.

10. Do not move an ancient landmarkor enter the fields of the fatherless,

11. for their Redeemer is strong;he will plead their cause against you.