1
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When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
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2
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And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
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3
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Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
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4
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Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
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5
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Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
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6
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Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
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7
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For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
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8
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The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
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9
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Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
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10
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Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
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11
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For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
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12
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Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
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13
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Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
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14
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Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
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15
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My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
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16
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Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
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17
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Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the LORD all the day long.
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18
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For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
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19
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Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
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20
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Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
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21
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For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
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22
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Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
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23
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Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
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24
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The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
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25
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Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
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26
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My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
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27
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For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
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28
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She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
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29
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Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
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30
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They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
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31
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Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
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32
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At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
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33
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Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
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34
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Yea, thou shalt be as he that lieth down in the midst of the sea, or as he that lieth upon the top of a mast.
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35
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They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
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