1 When thou sittest to eat with a ruler, consider diligently what is before thee:
2 And put a knife to thy throat, if thou be a man given to appetite.
3 Be not desirous of his dainties: for they are deceitful meat.
4 Labour not to be rich: cease from thine own wisdom.
5 Wilt thou set thine eyes upon that which is not? for riches certainly make themselves wings; they fly away as an eagle toward heaven.
6 Eat thou not the bread of him that hath an evil eye, neither desire thou his dainty meats:
7 For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee.
8 The morsel which thou hast eaten shalt thou vomit up, and lose thy sweet words.
9 Speak not in the ears of a fool: for he will despise the wisdom of thy words.
10 Remove not the old landmark; and enter not into the fields of the fatherless:
11 For their redeemer is mighty; he shall plead their cause with thee.
12 Apply thine heart unto instruction, and thine ears to the words of knowledge.
13 Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die.
14 Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell.
15 My son, if thine heart be wise, my heart shall rejoice, even mine.
16 Yea, my reins shall rejoice, when thy lips speak right things.
17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but be thou in the fear of the Lord all the day long.
18 For surely there is an end; and thine expectation shall not be cut off.
19 Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.
20 Be not among winebibbers; among riotous eaters of flesh:
21 For the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty: and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags.
22 Hearken unto thy father that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old.
23 Buy the truth, and sell it not; also wisdom, and instruction, and understanding.
24 The father of the righteous shall greatly rejoice: and he that begetteth a wise child shall have joy of him.
25 Thy father and thy mother shall be glad, and she that bare thee shall rejoice.
26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.
27 For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
28 She also lieth in wait as for a prey, and increaseth the transgressors among men.
29 Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babbling? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes?
30 They that tarry long at the wine; they that go to seek mixed wine.
31 Look not thou upon the wine when it is red, when it giveth his colour in the cup, when it moveth itself aright.
32 At the last it biteth like a serpent, and stingeth like an adder.
33 Thine eyes shall behold strange women, and thine heart shall utter perverse things.
34 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.
35 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.
<html><b>If you sit down to dine</b> Heb. ללחום, to eat. <b>you should understand well</b> Give thought to know who he is, whether he is stingy or generous.</html>
<html><b>and you shall put a knife into your jaw</b> Heb. בלועך, into your jaw. If you see that he is stingy, do not eat of his [food]. <b>if you are a man with a hearty appetite</b> If you are a glutton and long to eat, it is better that you thrust a knife between your teeth. Our Sages expounded this as referring to a disciple sitting before his teacher. If he knows that his teacher will give him an answer for everything he asks, let him investigate the subtle points and ask concerning his tradition, but if not, let him keep his peace.</html>
<html><b>Do not desire his delicacies</b> but leave him and go [to study] before a competent teacher, and do not embarrass him with questions, since he does not know what to answer.</html>
<html><b>Do not weary yourself to grow rich</b> To make your learning into bundles because you will ultimately forget it.</html>
<html><b>Should you blink your eyes at it</b> The moment you blink your eyes to close them, that study will no longer be found with you. התעיף, like “and you shall fold” (Ex. 26:9), which Onkelos renders: ותעיף.</html>
<html><b>for it is as though it poured gall</b> שער. This שער is vowelized half with a “patach” and half with a “kamatz,” and the accent is at the end of the word; therefore, it is a verb and not a noun; for were it a noun, it would be [vowelized completely with] a “pattah” and the accent would be at the beginning of the word, like every שער in Scriptures. Its meaning is that it as though this food poured gall into the soul of this stingy man, so it is. <b>gall</b> Heb. שער, from the expression of (Jer. 29:17): “the loathsome (השערים) figs,” the bitter ones.</html>
<html><b>your morsel</b> that you ate in his house, you will ultimately vomit because of embarrassment. <b>and you will lose your sweet words</b> The gratitude that you extended and spoke to him tender words—you lost everything.</html>
<html><b>and…the fields of the orphans</b> The gleanings, the forgotten sheaves, and the corner that is due them.</html>
<html><b>when your lips speak right things</b> since your heart has grown wise.</html>
<html><b>Let your heart not envy the sinners</b> their success, to be wicked like them.</html>
<html><b>for because of this, there is a future</b> Heb. כי אם. This [word] אם is used as an expression of “that”; i.e., for because of this there is a future and hope for you.</html>
<html><b>Hear you, my son, and grow wise, and walk in the way of your heart</b> Since you will grow wise, you will be able to walk in the ways of your heart, for the heart of a wise man will not entice you to sin.</html>
<html><b>for the guzzler and the glutton will become impoverished</b> Heb. יורש, will become impoverished. <b>and slumber will clothe [you] with tatters</b> Laziness and slumber will clothe you with tattered clothing.</html>
<html><b>Buy truth</b> If you do not find to learn for nothing, learn for pay [pay to learn], but do not say, “Just as I learned for pay, so will I teach it for pay.”</html>
<html><b>a narrow well</b> (etroitte in French, in German, eng, schmal.)</html>
<html><b>suddenly</b> Heb. כחתף, suddenly. <b>and she will increase the faithless among men</b> She increases in Israel those who are faithless to God. He is referring to apostasy.</html>
<html><b>Who cries, “Woe!” Who, “Alas!”</b> An expression of crying and yelling. <b>He who has quarrels. He who talks too much</b> To him who has quarrels with the people and talks too much, woe and alas, for transgression does not stop with much speech. <b>Who has bloodshot eyes?</b> From drinking much wine, the eyes become red, and that is embarrassing.</html>
<html><b>for mixed wine</b> [as translated,] for mixed wine; this word is a noun, like ממכר, merchandise. <b>to search for mixed wine</b> Who search and hunt where good wine is sold.</html>
<html><b>Do not look at wine when it is red</b> Do not put your eye on it. <b>when he puts his eye on the cup, it goes smoothly</b> Whoever is habitually drunk—all transgressions appear to him to be straight; all ways appear straight. <b>on the cup</b> Heb. בכוס. The masoretic text reads: בכיס, on the pocket; i.e., the drinker puts his eye on the cup, and the storekeeper puts his eye on this one’s pocket.</html>
<html><b>and sting</b> Heb. יפרש, an expression of stinging (pointe in French, in German stechend). (Jud. 3: 31): “With an ox-goad” is translated into Aramaic as בפרש תורי, and in the Gemara (Baba Mezia 80a): “The one who holds the colter (פרשא),” aiguillon in Old French, in German stachel, Gewohneisen, and so in Jud. 3:31, II Sam. 8:1, and Jer. 31:18. Others interpret the word to mean that it separates him from life.</html>
<html><b>Your eyes will see strange women</b> When you will become drunk, they will burn in you and entice you to ogle harlots.</html>
<html><b>And you shall be</b> mad like one lying in the midst of the sea. <b>and like one lying at the top of a mast</b> The mast of a ship sways to fall from it.</html>
<html><b>“They struck me but I did not become ill, etc.”</b> When he sobers himself up from his wine, he does not feel any of the evils that passed over him, and he drinks again.</html>