| 1 for a bad name will earn you shame and reproach, as happens to the double-talking sinner. |
| 2 Do not get carried aloft on the wings of passion, for fear your strength tear itself apart like a bul , |
| 3 and you devour your own foliage and destroy your own fruit and end by making yourself like a piece of dried-up wood. |
| 4 An evil temper destroys the person who has it and makes him the laughing-stock of his enemies. |
| 5 A kindly turn of speech attracts new friends, a courteous tongue invites many a friendly response. |
| 6 Let your acquaintances be many, but for advisers choose one out of a thousand. |
| 7 If you want to make a friend, take him on trial, and do not be in a hurry to trust him; |
| 8 for one kind of friend is so only when it suits him but wil not stand by you in your day of trouble. |
| 9 Another kind of friend wil fal out with you and to your dismay make your quarrel public, |
| 10 and a third kind of friend wil share your table, but not stand by you in your day of trouble: |
| 11 when you are doing well he wil be your second self, ordering your servants about; |
| 12 but, if disaster befal s you, he wil recoil from you and keep out of your way. |
| 13 Keep well clear of your enemies, and be wary of your friends. |
| 14 A loyal friend is a powerful defence: whoever finds one has indeed found a treasure. |
| 15 A loyal friend is something beyond price, there is no measuring his worth. |
| 16 A loyal friend is the elixir of life, and those who fear the Lord will find one. |
| 17 Whoever fears the Lord makes true friends, for as a person is, so is his friend too. |
| 18 My child, from your earliest youth choose instruction, and til your hair is white you wil keep findingwisdom. |
| 19 Like ploughman and sower, cultivate her and wait for her fine harvest, for in tilling her you wil toil a littlewhile, but very soon you wil be eating her crops. |
| 20 How very harsh she is to the undisciplined! The senseless does not stay with her for long: |
| 21 she wil weigh as heavily on the senseless as a touchstone and such a person will lose no time inthrowing her off; |
| 22 for Wisdom is true to her name, she is not accessible to many. |
| 23 Listen, my child, and take my advice, do not reject my counsel: |
| 24 put your feet into her fetters, and your neck into her collar; |
| 25 offer your shoulder to her burden, do not be impatient of her bonds; |
| 26 court her with al your soul, and with al your might keep in her ways; |
| 27 search for her, track her down: she wil reveal herself; once you hold her, do not let her go. |
| 28 For in the end you wil find rest in her and she wil take the form of joy for you: |
| 29 her fetters you will find a mighty defence, her col ars, a precious necklace. |
| 30 Her yoke wil be a golden ornament, and her bonds be purple ribbons; |
| 31 you wil wear her like a robe of honour, you wil put her on like a crown of joy. |
| 32 If you wish it, my child, you can be taught; apply yourself, and you will become intel igent. |
| 33 If you love listening, you will learn, if you pay attention, you will become wise. |
| 34 Attend the gathering of elders; if there is a wise man there, attach yourself to him. |
| 35 Listen willingly to any discourse coming from God, do not let wise proverbs escape you. |
| 36 If you see a man of understanding, visit him early, let your feet wear out his doorstep. |
| 37 Reflect on the injunctions of the Lord, busy yourself at al times with his commandments. He wilstrengthen your mind, and the wisdom you desire will be granted you. |