1
A worker who is a drunkard will not become rich.
2
Wine and women will make men of understanding go astray.
3
Decay and worms will have him as their heritage.
4
He who is hasty to trust is shallow-hearted.
5
He who rejoices in wickedness will be condemned.[a]
6
[b]He who hates gossip has less wickedness.
7
Never repeat what is told you,
8
Whether it is of friend or foe, don’t tell it.
9
For if he has heard you and observed you,
10
Have you heard something? Let it die with you.
11
A fool will travail in pain with a word,
12
As an arrow that sticks in the flesh of the thigh,
13
Question a friend; it may be he didn’t do it.
14
Question your neighbor; it may be he didn’t say it.
15
Question a friend; for many times there is slander.
16
There is one who slips, and not from the heart.
17
Reprove your neighbor before you threaten him;
20
All wisdom is the fear of the Lord.
22
The knowledge of wickedness is not wisdom.
23
There is a wickedness, and it is an abomination.
24
Better is one who has little understanding, and fears God,
25
There is an exquisite subtlety, and it is unjust. And there is one who perverts favor to gain a judgment.[d]
26
There is one who does wickedly, who hangs down his head with mourning;
27
bowing down his face, and pretending to be deaf in one ear.
28
And if for lack of power he is hindered from sinning,
29
A man will be known by his appearance.
30
A man’s attire, grinning laughter,