| 1 | Like snow in summer and rain when the grain is being cut, so honour is not natural for the foolish. |
| 2 | As the sparrow in her wandering and the swallow in her flight, so the curse does not come without a cause. |
| 3 | A whip for the horse, a mouth-bit for the ass, and a rod for the back of the foolish. |
| 4 | Do not give to the foolish man a foolish answer, or you will be like him. |
| 5 | Give a foolish man a foolish answer, or he will seem wise to himself. |
| 6 | He who sends news by the hand of a foolish man is cutting off his feet and drinking in damage. |
| 7 | The legs of one who has no power of walking are hanging loose; so is a wise saying in the mouth of the foolish. |
| 8 | Giving honour to a foolish man is like attempting to keep a stone fixed in a cord. |
| 9 | Like a thorn which goes up into the hand of a man overcome by drink, so is a wise saying in the mouth of a foolish man. |
| 10 | Like an archer wounding all who go by, is a foolish man overcome by drink. |
| 11 | Like a dog going back to the food which he has not been able to keep down, is the foolish man doing his foolish acts over again. |
| 12 | Have you seen a man who seems to himself to be wise? There is more hope for the foolish than for him. |
| 13 | The hater of work says, There is a lion in the way; a lion is in the streets. |
| 14 | A door is turned on its pillar, and the hater of work on his bed. |
| 15 | The hater of work puts his hand deep into the basin: lifting it again to his mouth is a weariness to him. |
| 16 | The hater of work seems to himself wiser than seven men who are able to give an answer with good sense. |
| 17 | He who gets mixed up in a fight which is not his business, is like one who takes a dog by the ears while it is going by. |
| 18 | As one who is off his head sends about flaming sticks and arrows of death, |
| 19 | So is the man who gets the better of his neighbour by deceit, and says, Am I not doing so in sport? |
| 20 | Without wood, the fire goes out; and where there is no secret talk, argument is ended. |
| 21 | Like breath on coals and wood on fire, so a man given to argument gets a fight started. |
| 22 | The words of one who says evil of his neighbour secretly are like sweet food, they go down into the inner parts of the stomach. |
| 23 | Smooth lips and an evil heart are like a vessel of earth plated with silver waste. |
| 24 | With his lips the hater makes things seem what they are not, but deceit is stored up inside him; |
| 25 | When he says fair words, have no belief in him; for in his heart are seven evils: |
| 26 | Though his hate is covered with deceit, his sin will be seen openly before the meeting of the people. |
| 27 | He who makes a hole in the earth will himself go falling into it: and on him by whom a stone is rolled the stone will come back again. |
| 28 | A false tongue has hate for those who have clean hearts, and a smooth mouth is a cause of falling. |