1 Touch pitch and you blacken your hand;associate with scoundrels and you learn their ways.
2 Do not lift a weight too heavy for you,or associate with anyone wealthier than you.How can the clay pot go with the metal cauldron?When they knock together, the pot will be smashed:
3 The rich do wrong and boast of it,while the poor are wronged and beg forgiveness.
4 As long as the rich can use you they will enslave you,but when you are down and out they will abandon you.
5 As long as you have anything they will live with you,but they will drain you dry without remorse.
6 When they need you they will deceive youand smile at you and raise your hopes;they will speak kindly to you and say, “What do you need?”
7 They will embarrass you at their dinner parties,and finally laugh at you.Afterwards, when they see you, they will pass you by,and shake their heads at you.