1 Whoever does this grows no richer;those who waste the little they have will be stripped bare.
2 Wine and women make the heart lustful,and the companion of prostitutes becomes reckless.
3 Rottenness and worms will possess him,and the reckless will be snatched away.
4 Whoever trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,and those who sin wrong themselves.
5 Whoever gloats over evil will be destroyed,
6 and whoever repeats gossip has no sense.
7 Never repeat gossip,and no one will reproach you.
8 Tell nothing to friend or foe;and unless it be a sin for you, do not reveal a thing.
9 For someone may have heard you and watched you,and in time come to hate you.
10 Let anything you hear die with you;never fear, it will not make you burst!
11 Having heard something, the fool goes into labor,like a woman giving birth to a child.
12 Like an arrow stuck in a fool’s thigh,so is gossip in the belly of a fool.
13 Admonish your friend—he may not have done it;and if he did, that he may not do it again.
14 Admonish your neighbor—he may not have said it;and if he did, that he may not say it again.
15 Admonish your friend—often it may be slander;do not believe every story.
16 Then, too, a person can slip and not mean it;who has not sinned with his tongue?
17 Admonish your neighbor before you break with him;and give due place to the Law of the Most High.
20 All wisdom is fear of the Lord;and in all wisdom, the observance of the Law.
22 The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom,nor is there prudence in the counsel of sinners.
23 There is a shrewdness that is detestable,while the fool may be free from sin.
24 Better are the God-fearing who have little understandingthan those of great intelligence who violate the Law.
25 There is a shrewdness keen but dishonest,and there are those who are duplicitous to win a judgment.
26 There is the villain bowed in grief,but full of deceit within.
27 He hides his face and pretends not to hear,but when not observed, he will take advantage of you:
28 Even if his lack of strength keeps him from sinning,when he finds the right time he will do harm.
29 People are known by their appearance;the sensible are recognized as such when first met.
30 One’s attire, hearty laughter, and gaitproclaim him for what he is.