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23:1  When you are invited to eat with a king, use your best manners.
23:2  Don't go and stuff yourself! That would be just the same as cutting your throat.
23:3  Don't be greedy for all of that fancy food! It may not be so tasty.
23:4  Give up trying so hard to get rich.
23:5  Your money flies away before you know it, just like an eagle suddenly taking off.
23:6  Don't accept an invitation to eat a selfish person's food, no matter how good it is.
23:7  People like that take note of how much you eat. They say, “Take all you want!” But they don't mean it.
23:8  Each bite will come back up, and all your kind words will be wasted.
23:9  Don't talk to fools— they will make fun of you.
23:10  Don't move a boundary marker or take the land that belongs to orphans.
23:11  God All-Powerful is there to defend them against you.
23:12  Listen to instruction and do your best to learn.
23:13  Don't fail to correct your children. You won't kill them by being firm,
23:14  and it may even save their lives.
23:15  My children, if you show good sense, I will be happy,
23:16  and if you are truthful, I will really be glad.
23:17  Don't be jealous of sinners, but always honor the Lord.
23:18  Then you will truly have hope for the future.
23:19  Listen to me, my children! Be wise and have enough sense to follow the right path.
23:20  Don't be a heavy drinker or stuff yourself with food.
23:21  It will make you feel drowsy, and you will end up poor with only rags to wear.
23:22  Pay attention to your father, and don't neglect your mother when she grows old.
23:23  Invest in truth and wisdom, discipline and good sense, and don't part with them.
23:24  Make your father truly happy by living right and showing sound judgment.
23:25  Make your parents proud, especially your mother.
23:26  My son, pay close attention, and gladly follow my example.
23:27  Bad women and unfaithful wives are like a deep pit—
23:28  they are waiting to attack you like a gang of robbers with victim after victim.
23:29  Who is always in trouble? Who argues and fights? Who has cuts and bruises? Whose eyes are red?
23:30  Everyone who stays up late, having just one more drink.
23:31  Don't even look at that colorful stuff bubbling up in the glass! It goes down so easily,
23:32  but later it bites like a poisonous snake.
23:33  You will see weird things, and your mind will play tricks on you.
23:34  You will feel tossed about like someone trying to sleep on a ship in a storm.
23:35  You will be bruised all over, without even remembering how it all happened. And you will lie awake asking, “When will morning come, so I can drink some more?”