| 1 He who does so grows no richer; he who wastes the little he has will be stripped bare. |
| 2 Wine and women make the mind giddy, and the companion of harlots becomes reckless. |
| 3 Rottenness and worms will possess him, for contumacious desire destroys its owner. |
| 4 He who lightly trusts in them has no sense, and he who strays after them sins against his own life. |
| 5 He who gloats over evil will meet with evil, and he who repeats an evil report has no sense. |
| 6 Never repeat gossip, and you will not be reviled. |
| 7 Tell nothing to friend or foe; if you have a fault, reveal it not, |
| 8 For he who hears it will hold it against you, and in time become your enemy. |
| 9 Let anything you hear die within you; be assured it will not make you burst. |
| 10 When a fool hears something, he is in labor, like a woman giving birth to a child. |
| 11 Like an arrow lodged in a man's thigh is gossip in the breast of a fool. |
| 12 Admonish your friend--he may not have done it; and if he did, that he may not do it again. |
| 13 Admonish your neighbor--he may not have said it; and if he did, that he may not say it again. |
| 14 Admonish your friend--often it may be slander; every story you must not believe. |
| 15 Then, too, a man can slip and not mean it; who has not sinned with his tongue? |
| 16 Admonish your neighbor before you break with him; thus will you fulfill the law of the Most High. |
| 17 All wisdom is fear of the LORD; perfect wisdom is the fulfillment of the law. |
| 18 The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom, nor is there prudence in the counsel of sinners. |
| 19 There is a shrewdness that is detestable, while the simple man may be free from sin. |
| 20 There are those with little understanding who fear God, and those of great intelligence who violate the law. |
| 21 There is a shrewdness keen but dishonest, which by duplicity wins a judgment. |
| 22 There is the wicked man who is bowed in grief, but is full of guile within; |
| 23 He bows his head and feigns not to hear, but when not observed, he will take advantage of you: |
| 24 Even though his lack of strength keeps him from sinning, when he finds the opportunity, he will do harm. |
| 25 One can tell a man by his appearance; a wise man is known as such when first met. |
| 26 A man's attire, his hearty laughter and his gait, proclaim him for what he is. |