¹Whoever touches tar will get dirty,

and those who associate with the arrogant will become like them.

²Don’t lift something

that’s too heavy for you,

and don’t associate with people

who are more powerful and rich

than you are.

What does a clay pot have in common

with a metal cauldron?

The one will knock against the other

and be shattered.

³Rich people inflict injury,

but then act as if they’re the ones

who have been wronged;

the poor suffer injury,

but they’re the ones

who must apologize.

⁴If you are useful to the rich,

they will work with you,

but if you are in need,

they will abandon you.

⁵If you own anything,

they will live with you;

they will exhaust what you have,

and they won’t suffer.

⁶If they need you, they will deceive you

and smile at you and give you hope;

they will speak nicely to you and say,

“What do you need?”

⁷They will embarrass you

with their fine foods,

until they have cleaned you out

two or three times over.

In the end they will mock you,

and after these things,

they will see you and abandon you

and shake their heads at you.

⁸Take care that you don’t go astray,

and don’t be humiliated

by your own foolishness.

⁹When powerful people invite you,

show yourself reluctant,

and they will invite you all the more.

¹⁰Don’t be forward,

or you might be rejected;

and don’t stand far off,

or you might be forgotten.

¹¹Don’t think that you can speak

with them as an equal,

and don’t trust in their

lengthy conversations,

¹²Those who won’t guard your secrets

are cruel,

and they won’t spare you

from mistreatment

and imprisonment.

¹³Be on guard and pay attention,

because you are tiptoeing

around your own downfall.

¹⁵All living creatures love what is like them,

and all people their neighbors.

¹⁶All beings gather together

with their own kind,

and people cling to those

who are like them.

¹⁷What does a wolf have in common

with a lamb?

So sinners have nothing in common

with the godly.

¹⁸What peace is there

between a hyena and a dog?

And what peace is there

between the rich and the poor?

¹⁹Wild asses in the desert are prey for lions;

so the poor are feeding grounds

for the rich.

²⁰The arrogant detest humility;

so the rich detest the poor.

²¹When rich people stumble,

they are supported by friends.

But when the humble fall,

their own friends push them away.

²²When the rich slip,

their helpers are many;

they speak things that shouldn’t be spoken, and people justify them.

The humble slip,

and people criticize them as well;

they utter something sensible,

and no one pays attention.

²³The rich speak, and everyone is silent,

and what they say is praised

to the heavens.

The poor speak, and they say,

“Who is this?”

And if the poor stumble,

others push them down all the more.

²⁴Wealth is good as long as it’s free of sin;

the ungodly speak of poverty

as an evil in and of itself.

On happiness

²⁵A person’s heart changes the disposition,

whether for good or for ill.

²⁶A cheerful face indicates

a heart full of good;

coming up with proverbs requires conversation along with hard work.