1If you do, you19.1 Hebrew If you do, you; Greek A worker who drinks too much. will never get rich; if you don't pay attention to small matters, you will gradually ruin yourself. 2Wine and women make sensible men do foolish things. A man who goes to prostitutes gets more and more careless, 3and that carelessness will cost him his life. Worms will feed on his decaying body.

4It is silly to trust people too quickly. If you sin, you are hurting yourself. 5If wickedness makes you happy, you will be condemned.

Loose Talk

6Avoid idle talk, and you will avoid a lot of trouble. 7Never repeat what you hear, and you will have no regrets. 8Don't tell it to your friends or your enemies unless it would be sinful to keep it to yourself. 9Whoever hears you will take notice of it, and sooner or later will hate you for it. 10Have you heard a rumour? Let it die with you. Be brave! It won't make you explode. 11A foolish person trying to keep a secret suffers like a woman in labour. 12Whenever he hears a secret, it's like an arrow stuck in his leg.

13If you hear that a friend has done something wrong, ask him about it. Maybe it isn't true. If it is true, he won't do it again. 14If you hear that a neighbour has said something he shouldn't, ask him about it. Maybe he didn't say it. If he did, he won't say it again. 15If you hear something bad about a friend, ask him about it. It might be a lie. Don't believe everything you hear. 16A person may say something carelessly and not really mean it. Everyone has sinned in this way at one time or another. 17If you hear something that makes you angry with your neighbour, ask him about it before you threaten him. Leave the matter to the Law of the Most High.19.17 Some manuscripts add verses 17c–19: and don't be angry. 18 Fearing the Lord is the first step towards his accepting you: he will love you if you are wise. 19 Learn from the Lord's commands. It is a discipline that gives life. Those who do what pleases him enjoy the fruit of the tree of immortality.

Recognizing Real Wisdom

20Fear the Lord and keep his Law; that is what Wisdom is all about.19.20 Some manuscripts add verses 20b–21: and what the knowledge of his omnipotence means. 21 If a servant refuses to obey his master, but later does obey, the master is still angry. 22You may know everything there is to know about wickedness, but that does not make you wise. It is not sensible to follow the advice of sinners. 23It is possible to use cleverness for wicked purposes, but some people act like fools because they don't know any better. 24A devout person, even if he is not very intelligent, is better off than the cleverest of sinners. 25It is possible to be marvellously clever and still be dishonest, or to get what you want by being absurdly polite.

26Then there are those wicked people who go about looking very solemn and mournful, but who are only trying to deceive you. 27They will turn their faces away and pretend not to hear you, but they'll take advantage of you when you least expect it. 28If for some reason they are unable to sin now, they'll get round to it at the first opportunity. 29You can know people by their appearance. The first time you look at them, you can tell if they have good sense. 30Their character shows in the way they dress, the way they laugh, and the way they walk.