¹Many have sinned because of money,

and whoever seeks to get more

will turn a blind eye.

²A stake is driven

between cracks in stones,

and sin will be wedged

between selling and buying.

³If people don’t remain mindful

of the respect due the Lord,

their houses will be quickly overthrown.

⁴When a sieve is shaken,

rubbish remains behind;

so in the process of reasoning,

a person’s flaws appear.

⁵A kiln tests a potter’s jars,

and decision making tests a person.

⁶A tree’s fruit reveals

how well it has been cultivated.

In the same way, reasoning makes plain

a person’s thoughts.

⁷Don’t praise people

until after they present an argument,

for this is how people are tested.

⁸If you pursue what’s just,

you will possess it

and wear it like a glorious robe.

⁹Birds will nest with their own kind,

and truth comes back

to those who practice it.

¹⁰A lion lies in wait for prey

just as sin lies in wait

for those who practice injustice.

¹¹The godly always speak wisdom,

but the fool changes like the moon.

¹²Limit the time you spend

with unintelligent people,

but linger with the thoughtful.

¹³The conversation of fools is offensive,

as is their laughter

over sinful pleasures.

¹⁴Their speech, full of profanity,

makes a person’s hair stand on end,

and their conflicts make people

stop up their ears.

¹⁵The conflict of the arrogant

ends in bloodshed,

and their abuse is miserable to hear.

Relations with associates

¹⁶Those who reveal secrets

have destroyed trust,

and they will never find a friend

for themselves.

¹⁷Show affection to friends

and be loyal to them,

but if you reveal their secrets,

don’t follow after them.

¹⁸Just as people destroy an enemy,[#27.18 Some manuscripts a corpse]

so you have destroyed your friendship

with your neighbors.

¹⁹And as you set a bird free from your hand,

so too you have let your neighbors go,

and you won’t catch them.

²⁰Don’t pursue them,

because they have withdrawn

far away from you,

and they have escaped

like a gazelle from a trap.

²¹In the same way that it’s possible

to bandage a wound,

there’s also reconciliation for insult,

but the one who has let a friend’s secrets slip out has no hope.

²²Those who wink their eye plan evil,

and whoever recognizes them

will keep their distance.

²³To your face their speech will be sweet,

and they will express amazement

at your words.

But later they will distort what they said,

and they will use your own words

against you.

²⁴I’ve hated many things,

but nothing compares with them.

Even the Lord will hate them.

²⁵Those who throw stones up high

throw them on their own heads,

and a deceitful blow

will open up wounds.

²⁶Whoever digs a hole will fall into it,

and whoever sets a trap

will get caught in it.

²⁷Evil will roll back upon those

who practice evil,

and they will never know

where it came from.

²⁸Mocking and blaming

belong to the arrogant,

and vengeance, like a lion,

will lie in wait for them.

²⁹Those who rejoice when godly people fall

will get caught in a trap,

and pain will consume them

before their death.

³⁰Wrath and anger—

these also are detestable,

and they will possess the sinful person.