1A worker who drinks will not get rich, and one who despises small things will fall.
2Wine and women lead the heart astray, and a brazen soul will destroy its owner.
3Decay and worms will inherit him, and a reckless soul will be taken away.
4One who is quick to trust is empty-headed, and one who sins harms his own soul.
5The one who is inwardly gleeful will be condemned,
6and he who hates gossip reduces evil.
7Never repeat a story, and you will lose nothing by it.
8Do not tell it to friend or foe, and unless silence is a sin for you, do not reveal it.
9For he has heard you and is watching you, and in due time he will hate you.
10Have you heard a word? Let it die with you. Rest assured, it will not make you burst.
11A fool is in labor pains over a story, like a woman giving birth to a child.
12Like an arrow stuck in a fleshy thigh, so is a story in the belly of a fool.
13Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it. And if he did, so that he may not do it again.
14Question a friend; perhaps he did not say it. And if he did say it, so that he may not say it again.
15Question a friend, for slander often occurs, and do not believe every story.
16There is one who slips, but not intentionally; and who has not sinned with his tongue?
17Question your neighbor before you threaten him, and give place to the law of the Most High.
20All wisdom is the fear of the Lord, and in all wisdom is the practice of the law.
22Knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom, nor is the counsel of sinners prudence.
23There is a wickedness that is an abomination, and there is a fool who is lacking in wisdom.
24Better is one who is deficient in understanding and has fear, than one who abounds in prudence and transgresses the law.
25There is a precise cleverness that is unjust, and there is one who twists favor to produce a judgment.
26There is one who acts wickedly, bent over in gloom, but his insides are full of deceit.
27Covering his face and pretending to be deaf, where he is unrecognized he will take advantage of you.
28And if he is prevented from sinning by lack of strength, he will do evil when he finds an opportunity.
29A man is known by his appearance, and a sensible person is known by his expression when you meet him.
30A man’s clothing, his smile, and a person’s gait reveal what he is.
Open in the interactive reader →