Proverbs 23:1-11

New Revised Standard Version Updated Edition

23 When you sit down to eat with an official,
    observe carefully what^[a] is before you,
² and put a knife to your throat
    if you have a big appetite.
³ Do not desire an official’s^[b] delicacies,
    for they are deceptive food.^(A)
4 Do not wear yourself out to get rich;
    be wise enough to desist.^(B)
5 When your eyes light upon it, it is gone,
    for suddenly it takes wings to itself,
    flying like an eagle toward heaven.
⁶ Do not eat the bread of the stingy;
    do not desire their delicacies,^(C)
7 for like a hair in the throat, so are they.^[c]
    “Eat and drink!” they say to you,
    but they do not mean it.^(D)
8 You will vomit up the little you have eaten,
    and you will waste your pleasant words.
⁹ Do not speak in the hearing of a fool,
    who will only despise the wisdom of your words.^(E)
10 Do not remove an ancient landmark
    or encroach on the fields of orphans,^(F)
11 for their vindicator^[d] is strong;
    he will plead their cause against you.^(G)