The Rich and the Poor

¹As those who touch pitch get dirty,

so those who associate with the proud will become proud.

²Don’t try to carry a burden too heavy for you

or associate with someone mightier or richer than you.

How can you put a clay jar next to an iron kettle?

If they knock against one another, the jar will be smashed.

³If rich people do wrong, they blame others,

but if poor people are wronged, they must apologize over and over.

⁴Rich people will exploit you if you have anything to give,

but they will abandon you if you have nothing.

⁵If you have anything, the rich will live with you

and consume your goods without remorse.

⁶If they need you, they will deceive you.

They will smile at you and encourage you.

They will speak gently to you,

asking, “What do you need?”

⁷The rich will shame you by their fine meals

until you are drained two or three times by returning the favor.

Finally, they will laugh at you.

Afterward when they see you,

they will avoid you and deride you.

⁸Beware that you are not deceived

and humiliated by your stupidity.

⁹If you are invited to dinner by the influential, be reluctant to accept;

then they will be even more insistent.

¹⁰Don’t push yourself forward, or you might be pushed back;

but don’t stand aloof, or you may be forgotten.

¹¹Don’t speak to the influential as equals

or believe their many words,

for they will test you with their long discourses

and probe you with their smiles.

¹²Those who betray your confidence are cruel.

They will not hesitate to harm or imprison you.

¹³Keep quiet and be very careful,

for you are flirting with disaster.

¹⁵Every creature loves its own kind,

so every person should love his neighbor.

¹⁶Every creature associates with those like itself,

and people are drawn to others like themselves.

¹⁷What does a wolf have in common with a lamb?

So it is with the sinner and the godly.

¹⁸What peace can there be between a hyena and a dog?

Or what peace can there be between the rich and the poor?

¹⁹The wild donkey is a lion’s prey in the wilderness;

so also the poor are devoured by the rich.

²⁰Humility is an abomination to the proud,

just as the poor are abhorred by the rich.

²¹When the rich fail, their friends support them;

but when the poor fall, their friends push them away.

²²When the rich falter, many come to their aid;

when they speak inappropriately, they are justified by others.

But if the poor slip, they are criticized.

They may speak wisely, but no one listens.

²³The rich speak, and everyone stops talking;

their speech is praised to the heavens.

The poor person speaks, and people ask, “Who is this?”

If the poor stumble, they are pushed down.

²⁴Riches are good for those without sin,

and poverty is evil only to the ungodly.

True Happiness

²⁵The heart changes one’s countenance—

for better or for worse.

²⁶The sign of a good heart is a happy face,

but composing proverbs is painful work.