When you sit down to eat with a ruler, observe carefully what is before you,
These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted;
Do you see a man skillful in his work? He will stand before kings; he will not stand before obscure men.
and put a knife to your throat if you are given to appetite.