1 When you sit down to dine with a ruler, consider carefully what is set before you, 2 and put a knife to your throat if you possess a great appetite. 3 Do not crave his delicacies, for that food is deceptive.
Proverbs 23:1–3
Semantically similar passages
Sirach 37:28–30
28 For not all things are profitable for all men. Not every soul has pleasure in everything. (WEB) 29 Don’t be insatiable in any luxury. Don’t be greedy in the things that you eat. (WEB) 30 For overeating brings disease, and gluttony causes nausea. (WEB)
Sirach 31:15–17
15 Consider your neighbor’s feelings by your own. Be discreet in every point. (WEB) 16 Eat like a human being those things which are set before you. Don’t eat greedily, lest you be hated. (WEB) 17 Be first to stop for manners’ sake. Don’t be insatiable, lest you offend. (WEB)
Sirach 31:11–13
11 His prosperity will be made sure. The congregation will proclaim his alms. (WEB) 12 Do you sit at a great table? Don’t be greedy there. Don’t say, “There is a lot of food on it!” (WEB) 13 Remember that a greedy eye is a wicked thing. What has been created more greedy than an eye… (WEB)
Sirach 18:31–33
31 If you give fully to your soul the delight of her desire, she will make you the laughing stock of your enemies. (WEB) 32 Don’t make merry in much luxury, and don’t be tied to its expense. (WEB) 33 Don’t be made a beggar by banqueting with borrowed money when you have nothing in… (WEB)
Sirach 40:28–30
28 My son, don’t lead a beggar’s life. It is better to die than to beg. (WEB) 29 A man who looks to the table of another, his life is not to be considered a life. He will pollute his soul with another person’s food, but a wise and well-instructed person will beware of tha… (WEB)
Proverbs 23:7–9
7 for he is keeping track, inwardly counting the cost. “Eat and drink,” he says to you, but his heart is not with you. 8 You will vomit up what little you have eaten and waste your pleasant words. 9 Do not speak to a fool, for he will despise the wisdom of your words.
Sirach 13:7–9
7 He will shame you by his delicacies until he has made you bare twice or thrice, and in the end he will laugh you to scorn. Afterward he will see you, will forsake you, and shake his head at you. (WEB) 8 Beware that you are not deceived and brought low in your enjoymen… (WEB)
Job 20:13–15
13 though he cannot bear to let it go and keeps it in his mouth, 14 yet in his stomach his food sours into the venom of cobras within him. 15 He swallows wealth but vomits it out; God will force it from his stomach.
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