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⁴Wrath is cruel, and anger is overwhelming;

But who is able to stand before jealousy?

 

⁵Better is open rebuke

Than love that is hidden.

 

⁶Faithful are the wounds of a friend;

But the kisses of an enemy are importunate.

 

⁷The full soul loatheth a honeycomb;

But to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.

 

⁸As a bird that wandereth from her nest,

So is a man that wandereth from his place.

 

⁹Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart;

So doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty counsel.

 

¹⁰Thine own friend, and thy father's friend, forsake not;

Neither go into thy brother's house in the day of thy calamity;

Better is a neighbour that is near than a brother far off.

 

¹¹My son, be wise, and make my heart glad,

That I may answer him that taunteth me.

 

¹²A prudent man seeth the evil, and hideth himself;

But the thoughtless pass on, and are punished.

 

¹³Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;

And hold him in pledge that is surety for an alien woman.

 

¹⁴He that blesseth his friend with a loud voice, rising early in the morning,

It shall be counted a curse to him.

 

¹⁵A continual dropping in a very rainy day

And a contentious woman are alike;

¹⁶He that would hide her hideth the wind,

And the ointment of his right hand betrayeth itself.

 

¹⁷Iron sharpeneth iron;

So a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

 

¹⁸Whoso keepeth the fig-tree shall eat the fruit thereof;

And he that waiteth on his master shall be honoured.

 

¹⁹As in water face answereth to face,

So the heart of man to man.

 

²⁰The nether-world and Destruction are never satiated;

So the eyes of man are never satiated.

 

²¹The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold,

And a man is tried by his praise.

 

²²Though thou shouldest bray a fool in a mortar with a pestle among groats,

Yet will not his foolishness depart from him.

 

²³Be thou diligent to know the state of thy flocks,

And look well to thy herds;

²⁴For riches are not for ever;

And doth the crown endure unto all generations?

 

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