There is a rebuke that is untimely,
and there is the person who is wise enough to keep silent.
2 How much better it is to rebuke than to fume!
3 And the one who admits his fault will be kept from failure.
4 Like a eunuch lusting to violate a girl
is the person who does right under compulsion.
5 Some people keep silent and are thought to be wise,
while others are detested for being talkative.
6 Some people keep silent because they have nothing to say,
while others keep silent because they know when to speak.
7 The wise remain silent until the right moment,
but a boasting fool misses the right moment.
8 Whoever talks too much is detested,
and whoever pretends to authority is hated.
Paradoxes
9 There may be good fortune for a person in adversity,
and a windfall may result in a loss.
10 There is the gift that profits you nothing,
and the gift to be paid back double.
11 There are losses for the sake of glory,
and there are some who have raised their heads from humble circumstances.
12 Some buy much for little,
but pay for it seven times over.
13 The wise make themselves beloved by only few words,
but the courtesies of fools are wasted.
14 A fool’s gift will profit you nothing,
for he looks for recompense sevenfold.
15 He gives little and upbraids much;
he opens his mouth like a town crier.
Today he lends and tomorrow he asks it back;
such a one is hateful to God and humans.
16 The fool says, “I have no friends,
and I get no thanks for my good deeds.
Those who eat my bread are evil-tongued.”
17 How many will ridicule him, and how often!
Inappropriate Speech
18 A slip on the pavement is better than a slip of the tongue;
the downfall of the wicked will occur just as speedily.
19 A coarse person is like an inappropriate story,
continually on the lips of the ignorant.
20 A proverb from a fool’s lips will be rejected,
for he does not tell it at the proper time.
21 One may be prevented from sinning by poverty;
so when he rests he feels no remorse.
22 One may lose his life through shame,
or lose it because of human respect.
23 Another out of shame makes promises to a friend,
and so makes an enemy for nothing.
Inappropriate Speech
18 A slip on the pavement is better than a slip of the tongue;
the downfall of the wicked will occur just as speedily.
19 A coarse person is like an inappropriate story,
continually on the lips of the ignorant.
20 A proverb from a fool’s lips will be rejected,
for he does not tell it at the proper time.
21 One may be prevented from sinning by poverty;
so when he rests he feels no remorse.
22 One may lose his life through shame,
or lose it because of human respect.
23 Another out of shame makes promises to a friend,
and so makes an enemy for nothing.
Lying
24 A lie is an ugly blot on a person;
it is continually on the lips of the ignorant.
25 A thief is preferable to a habitual liar,
but the lot of both is ruin.
26 A liar’s way leads to disgrace,
and his shame is ever with him.
PROVERBIAL SAYINGS
27 The wise person advances himself by his words,
and one who is sensible pleases the great.
28 Those who cultivate the soil heap up their harvest,
and those who please the great atone for injustice.
29 Favors and gifts blind the eyes of the wise;
like a muzzle on the mouth they stop reproofs.
30 Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure,
of what value is either?
31 Better are those who hide their folly
than those who hide their wisdom.
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