Proverbs chapter 23,
35 verses.
Restrain yourself.
Verses 1 through 21.
Number 6,
Verses 1 through 3.
When you go out to dinner with an influential person,
Mind your manners.
Don't gobble your food,
Don't talk with your mouth full,
And don't stuff yourself.
Bridal your appetite.
Number 7,
Verses 4 through 5.
Don't wear yourself out trying to get rich.
Restrain yourself.
Riches disappear in the blink of an eye,
While the sprout swings and flies off into the wild blue yonder.
Number 8,
Verses 6 through 8.
Don't accept a meal from a tightwad.
Don't expect anything special.
He'll be as stingy with you as he is with himself.
He'll say,
Eat,
Drink,
But won't mean a word of it.
His miserly serving will turn your stomach when you realize the meal's a sham.
9,
Verses 9.
Don't bother talking sense to fools that only poke fun at your words.
10,
Verses 10 through 11.
Don't stealthily move back the boundary line or cheat orphans out of their property,
For they have a powerful advocate who will go to bat for them.
11,
Verses 12.
Give yourself to disciplined instruction.
Open your ears to tested knowledge.
12,
Verses 13 through 14.
Don't be afraid to correct your young ones.
A spanking won't kill them.
A good spanking effect might save them from something worse than death.
13,
Verses 15 through 16.
Dear child,
If you become wise,
I'll be one happy parent.
My heart will dance and sing to the tuneful truth you'll speak.
14,
Verses 17 through 18.
Don't for a minute envy careless rebels.
Soak yourself in the fear of God.
That's where your future lies.
Then you won't be left with an armload of nothing.
15,
Verses 19 through 21.
Oh listen,
Dear child,
Become wise.
Put your life in the right direction.
Don't drink too much wine and get drunk.
Don't eat too much food and get fat.
Drunks and gluttons will end up on skid row in a stupor and dressed in racks.
16,
Verses 22 through 25.
Listen with respect to the father who raised you.
And when your mother grows old,
Don't neglect her.
By truth,
Don't sell it for love or money.
By wisdom,
By education,
By insight.
Parents rejoice when their children turn out well.
Wise children become proud parents.
So make your father happy,
Make your mother proud.
17,
Verses 26.
Dear child,
I want your full attention.
Please do what I show you.
Verses 17 through 28.
A prostitute is a bottomless pit.
A loose woman can get you in deep trouble fast.
She'll take you for all you've got.
She's worse than a pack of these.
18,
Verses 29 through 35.
Who are the people who are always crying the blues?
Who do you know who reeks of self-pity?
Who keeps getting beaten up for no reason at all?
Whose eyes are bleary and bloodshot?
It's those who spend the night with a bottle,
For whom drinking is serious business.
Don't judge wine by its label,
Or its bouquet,
Or its full-body flavor.
Judge it rather by the hangover it leaves you with,
The splitting headache,
The queasy stomach.
Do you really prefer seeing double with your speech all slurred,
Reeling and seasick,
Drunk as a sailor?
They hit me,
You say,
But it didn't hurt.
They beat on me,
But I didn't feel a thing.
When I'm sober enough to manage it,
Bring me another drink.
End of chapter.
