On speech

¹There is a bad time

to rebuke someone.

Those who keep silent

are the prudent ones.

²How much better to investigate

than to be angry!

³And those who confess openly

will be kept from loss.

⁴Like eunuchs desiring to violate a girl,

so are those who make decisions

by force.

⁵There are people who are silent

and are found to be wise,

and there are those who are hated

because they talk a lot.

⁶There are those who keep silent

because they have nothing to say

in response,

and there are those who keep silent

because they know the right time.

⁷Wise people keep silent

until the proper moment,

but those who swagger and are senseless will miss the right moment.

⁸Those who talk excessively will be loathed,

and those who pretend

to have authority will be hated.

⁹Some people have success

in bad circumstances,

and there’s a windfall that results

in loss.

¹⁰There’s a gift that won’t profit you,

and there’s a gift that will bring

twice the return.

¹¹There are losses suffered

for the sake of one’s reputation,

and there are people who have raised

their heads from humiliation.

¹²There are those who buy a lot for a little,

and they pay for it seven times over.

¹³Wise people make themselves

dearly loved by means of words,

but fools pour out gifts.

¹⁴Gifts from senseless people

won’t profit you,

because they look for a lot

rather than a little in return.

¹⁵They will give a little and reproach a lot,

and they will open their mouths

like a town crier.

Today they will lend

and tomorrow ask for it back;

such people are hateful.

¹⁶Fools say, “I don’t have a friend,

and there’s no gratitude

for my good deeds.”

Those who eat the bread of such people

have mean tongues.

¹⁷How many will ridicule them,

and how often?

¹⁸A slip on the pavement is preferable

to a slip of the tongue;

so the downfall of evil people

will come quickly.

¹⁹A disagreeable person, an untimely story—

it will always be

in the mouth of the uneducated.

²⁰Proverbs told by fools will be rejected,

because they’ll never tell them

at their proper time.

²¹Some are prevented from sinning

because of poverty,

and their conscience won’t be pained

when they rest.

²²Some destroy their life through shame,

and they destroy it

because of foolish appearances.

²³Some promise a favor to a friend

out of shame,

and they create an enemy for no reason.

²⁴A lie is a bad blemish on a person;

ignorant people tell them incessantly.

²⁵A thief is preferable to someone

who continuously lies,

but both will inherit destruction.

²⁶The character of liars is dishonorable;

their shame is continuously

with them.

Proverbial sayingsl

²⁷Wise people distinguish themselves

by their words,

and prudent people will please

the powerful.

²⁸Those who work the soil

will pile up their harvest,

and those who please the powerful

will secure reconciliation for injuries.

²⁹Friendly relationships and gifts

will blind the eyes of the wise;

like a muzzle on a mouth,

they turn away reproof.

³⁰Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure—

of what benefit is either?

³¹Better are those who hide

their foolishness

than those who hide their wisdom.