¹of repeating gossip;

and of revealing secrets—

Don’t be ashamed of these things,

and don’t show favoritism

so that you sin.

²Don’t be ashamed:

of the Law of the Most High

or the covenant,

of a just verdict

in favor of an ungodly person,

³of keeping a record of expenses with a partner or a traveling companion,

of distributing an inheritance

to others,

⁴of accuracy with scales and weights,

of acquiring a lot or a little,

⁵of profit from business with merchants,

of frequent discipline of children,

and of whipping wicked

household slaves until they bleed.

⁶In the case of a wicked wife,

using your seal on your documents and supplies is an excellent idea,

and lock up things

anywhere there are lots of hands.

⁷Whatever you deposit,

whether by number and weight,

and whatever you give or receive,

put everything in writing.

⁸Don’t be ashamed of discipline

for the stupid and foolish

and for the old codger

who is guilty of sexual immorality.

Then you will have been truly educated

and approved by everyone alive.

On daughters

⁹A daughter is a hidden source

of sleeplessness for her father,

and anxiety about her deprives him

of sleep:

in her youth, that she doesn’t pass

her prime,

and when she’s married,

that she not be hated;

¹⁰while she’s a virgin,

that she not be seduced

and become pregnant

while still living at home;

when she’s married,

that she not go straying;

or having married,

that she not be infertile.

¹¹Keep a strict watch over

an unruly daughter

so that she doesn’t make you

an object of ridicule to your enemies,

a topic of talk in the city

and the assembly of the people,

and she shame you before the crowd.

¹²Don’t consider the beauty

of any person,

and don’t spend time among women.

¹³Moths come out of clothes,

and a woman’s wickedness

comes from a woman.

¹⁴A man’s wickedness

is better than a woman who does good

and a disgraced woman

who brings shame.

God’s created order

¹⁵Now I’ll call to mind the works

of the Lord,

and I’ll tell about what I’ve seen.

The Lord’s works came into being

by his words.

¹⁶The shining sun looked down

on everything,

and the Lord’s work is radiant

with his glory.

¹⁷The Lord has not allowed his holy ones

to describe all of his wonders,

¹⁸He has searched the abyss and the heart,

and he took their great achievements

into consideration,

²⁰No thought escaped him,

and not a single word

was hidden from him.

²¹He ordered the splendors of his wisdom.

He remains the same

from the beginning of time

all the way to eternity.

Nothing can be added to him

nor be taken away,

and he needed no one to give him advice.

²²How desirable are all of his works,

and how brilliant they are to look upon.

²³All these things live and remain forever

in every circumstance,

and everything obeys him.

²⁴All things exist in pairs,

one opposite the other,

and he made nothing that

was incomplete.

²⁵Each thing strengthens the good parts

of the other;

who can get enough of seeing

God’s glory?