1
A lazy one is compared to a stone smeared with filth, and everyone hisses at his dishonor.
2
A lazy one is compared to a lump of dung; everyone who lifts it shakes his hand.
3
An uninstructed son is the shame of a father, and a daughter is born to his loss.
4
A discerning daughter shall gain her husband as an inheritance, but one who brings shame is grief to the one who begot her.
5
A shameless daughter shames father and husband, and by both she shall be dishonored.
6
Music during mourning is a word spoken out of season, but lashes and instruction are Wisdom in every appointed time.
7
One who teaches a fool glues a potsherd together and awakens one sleeping from deep sleep.
8
One who recounts to a fool recounts to one nodding off; at the end he says, “What is it?” 11 Weep for the dead, for light has ceased; and weep for a fool, for understanding has ceased. Weep more gently for the dead, because he has rested, but the evil life of a fool is worse than death. 12 Mourning for the dead is seven days, but for a fool and a profane one, all the days of his life. 13 Do not multiply words with one without sense, and do not walk with one lacking understanding. Guard yourself from him, lest you have trouble and be defiled when he shakes himself. Turn aside from him and you shall find rest, and you shall not be wearied by his madness. 14 What is heavier than lead? And what is its name except “fool”? 15 Sand and salt and a lump of iron are easier to bear than an Adam without understanding. 16 A wooden binding joined into a building is not loosened by shaking; so a heart established upon considered counsel does not become fearful in its appointed time. 17 A heart founded upon thoughtful understanding is like ornamented plaster upon a polished wall. 18 Stakes set upon a height do not endure before the wind; so a fearful heart within the thought of a fool does not endure before any terror. 19 One who pricks an eye causes tears to fall, and one who pricks a heart reveals feeling. 20 One who throws a stone at flying creatures drives them away, and one who reproaches a companion dissolves companionship. 21 If you draw a sword against a companion, do not despair, for there may be a return. 22 If you open your mouth against a companion, do not fear, for there may be reconciliation— except after reproach, pride, disclosure of a secret, or a deceitful wound; because of these every companion flees. 23 Acquire trust with your neighbor in his poverty, that you may be filled together in his good things. Remain with him in an appointed time of distress, that you may share his inheritance. 24 Before fire come the vapor and smoke of a furnace; so abuses come before bloodshed. 25 I shall not be ashamed to cover a companion, and I shall not hide from his face. 26 If evils happen to me because of him, everyone who hears shall guard himself from him. 27 Who shall set a guard upon my mouth and a discerning seal upon my lips, that I may not fall because of them and my tongue destroy me?