1  ^yWine is a mocker, ^zstrong drink a brawler,

and whoever ^ais led astray by it is not wise.¹

17  Whoever loves pleasure will be a poor man;

he who loves wine and oil will not be rich.

20  ^xPrecious treasure and oil are in a wise man’s dwelling,

but a foolish man ^ydevours it.

1  When you sit down to eat with a ruler,

observe carefully what¹ is before you,

2  and put a knife to your throat

if you are given to appetite.

3  ^cDo not desire his delicacies,

for they are deceptive food.

6  ^gDo not eat the bread of a man who is ^hstingy;¹

ⁱdo not desire his delicacies,

7  for he is like one who is inwardly calculating.²

“Eat and drink!” he says to you,

but his ^jheart is not with you.

8  You will vomit up the morsels that you have eaten,

and waste your pleasant words.

20  Be not among ^zdrunkards¹

or among ^agluttonous eaters of meat,

21  for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty,

and ^bslumber will clothe them with rags.

29  ^lWho has woe? Who has sorrow?

Who has strife? Who has complaining?

Who has ^mwounds without cause?

Who has ⁿredness of eyes?

30  Those who ^otarry long over wine;

those who go to try ^pmixed wine.

31  Do not look at wine when it is red,

when it sparkles in the cup

and goes down smoothly.

16  If you have ^ffound honey, eat ^gonly enough for you,

lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.

20  ^tSheol and Abaddon are ^unever satisfied,

and ^vnever satisfied are the eyes of man.

4  ^jIt is not for kings, O Lemuel,

it is not for kings ^kto drink wine,

or for rulers to take ^lstrong drink,

5  lest they drink and forget what has been decreed

and ^mpervert the rights of all the afflicted.