The chat will start when you send the first message.
1There is a rebuke that is untimely,[#vv 5–7, 19, 20; Eccl 3.7; Am 5.13]
and there is the person who is wise enough to keep silent.
2How much better it is to rebuke than to fume![#Prov 28.13]
3And the one who admits his fault will be kept from ridicule.[#Prov 28.13]
4Like a eunuch lusting to violate a young woman[#Sir 30.20]
is the person who makes decisions under compulsion.
5Some people keep silent and are found to be wise,[#v 1 ; Job 13.5; Prov 10.19; 17.28; #20.5 Gk: Heb thought]
while others are detested for being talkative.
6Some people keep silent because they have nothing to say,[#vv 5–7, 19, 20; Eccl 3.7; Am 5.13]
while others keep silent because they know when to speak.
7The wise remain silent until the right moment,[#Sir 32.4]
but the arrogant and the fool miss the right moment.
8Whoever talks too much is detested,[#Prov 10.19]
and whoever pretends to authority is hated.
9There may be good fortune for a person in adversity,
and a windfall may result in a loss.
10There is the gift that profits you nothing
and the gift to be paid back double.
11There are losses for the sake of glory,[#Mt 23.12; Lk 14.11; 18.14]
and there are some who have raised their heads from humble circumstances.
12Some buy much for little
but pay for it seven times over.
13The wise make themselves beloved by only few words,[#v 14 ; Sir 6.5; 18.18; 21.16; #20.13 Heb: Gk by words]
but the courtesies of fools are wasted.
14A fool’s gift will profit you nothing,[#20.14 Other ancient authorities add so it is with the envious who give under compulsion]
for he looks for recompense sevenfold.
15He gives little and insults much;[#Sir 18.18; Mt 6.2]
he opens his mouth like a town crier.
Today he lends, and tomorrow he asks it back;
such a one is hateful.
16The fool says, “I have no friends,
and I get no thanks for my good deeds.”
Those who eat his bread are evil-tongued.
17How many will ridicule him, and how often![#20.17 Other ancient authorities add for he has not honestly received what he has, and what he does not have is unimportant to him]
18A slip on the pavement is better than a slip of the tongue;[#Prov 12.13; 18.7]
the downfall of the wicked will occur just as speedily.
19A coarse person is like an inappropriate story,[#Sir 22.6]
continually on the lips of the ignorant.
20A proverb from a fool’s lips will be rejected,[#v 7 ; Prov 15.23]
for he does not tell it at the proper time.
21One may be prevented from sinning by poverty,[#Deut 8.11–17]
so when he rests he feels no remorse.
22One may lose his life through shame[#Sir 4.21]
or lose it because of a foolish person.
23One may make promises to a friend out of shame
and so make an enemy for nothing.
24A lie is an ugly blot on a person;[#Sir 25.2]
it is continually on the lips of the ignorant.
25A thief is preferable to a habitual liar,
but both will inherit ruin.
26The character of liars leads to disgrace,
and their shame is ever with them.
27Wise persons advance themselves by their words,[#Gen 41.39, 40]
and those who are sensible please the great.
28Those who cultivate the soil heap up their harvest,[#Prov 12.11; 28.19]
and those who please the great atone for injustice.
29Favors and gifts blind the eyes of the wise;[#Ex 23.8; Deut 16.19]
like a muzzle on the mouth they stop reproofs.
30Hidden wisdom and unseen treasure—[#Wis 7.13; Sir 41.14]
of what value is either?
31Better are those who hide their folly[#Sir 41.15]
than those who hide their wisdom.