Proverbs 23:1-18

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; bridle your appetite. Don’t wear yourself out trying to get rich; restrain yourself! Riches disappear in the blink of an eye; wealth sprouts wings and flies off into the wild blue yonder. 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. Don’t bother talking sense to fools; they’ll only poke fun at your words. Don’t stealthily move back the boundary lines or cheat orphans out of their property, For they have a powerful Advocate who will go to bat for them. Give yourselves to disciplined instruction; open your ears to tested knowledge. Don’t be afraid to correct your young ones; a spanking won’t kill them. A good spanking, in fact, might save them from something worse than death. 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. 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.