1There is a rebuke that is not timely, and there is one who is silent—and he is wise.
2How good it is to rebuke rather than to be angry, and he who confesses will be kept from loss.
4Like a eunuch’s desire to deflower a virgin, so is one who executes judgments with violence.
5There is one who is silent and is considered wise, and one who is despised for much talk.
6There is one who is silent for lack of an answer, and one who is silent because he sees the right time.
7A wise man will be silent until the right time, but a fool will not keep to the time.
8The one who talks too much will be detested, and the one who dominates will be hated.
9There is success for a man in bad things, and there is a discovery that results in loss.
10There is a gift that will not profit you, and there is a gift whose return is double.
11There is loss for the sake of glory, and there is one who has lifted his head from humiliation.
12There is one who buys much for little, and pays for it sevenfold.
13A wise man speaks his mind with few words, but the pleasantries of fools are poured away.
14A fool’s gift will not profit you, for his eyes are many instead of one.
15He will give little and reproach much, and open his mouth like a town crier. Today he lends and tomorrow he demands it back; such a man is hateful.
16The fool will say, “I have no friend, and there is no thanks for my good deeds; those who eat my bread are evil of tongue.”
17How often and how many will laugh at him!
18A slip on the pavement is better than a slip of the tongue; so the fall of the wicked will come swiftly.
19A charmless person is like an untimely story; it will be continually in the mouth of the uneducated.
20A proverb from a fool’s mouth will be rejected, for he will not say it at its proper time.
21There is one who is kept from sinning by poverty, and in his rest he will not be pierced with remorse.
22There is one who destroys his soul out of shame, and destroys it out of deference to a fool.
23There is one who, out of shame, makes a promise to a friend, and makes him an enemy for no reason.
24A lie is a wicked stain on a person; it will be continually in the mouth of the uneducated.
25A thief is preferable to a habitual liar, but both will inherit destruction.
26The habit of a liar is a dishonor, and his shame is with him continually.
27The wise man will advance himself by his words, and a prudent man will please the great.
28He who cultivates the soil will raise his harvest-heap high, and he who pleases the great will atone for injustice.
29Favors and gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and like a muzzle on the mouth, they turn away rebukes.
30Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure—what is the use of either?
31Better is a person who hides his folly than a person who hides his wisdom.
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