9 Do not be jealous of the wife whom you embrace,
    or you will teach her an evil lesson to your own hurt.^(A)
2 Do not give yourself to a woman
    and let her trample down your strength.^(B)
3 Do not go near a loose woman,^[a]
    or you may fall into her snares.^(C)
4 Do not dally with a female singer,
    or you may be caught in her activities.
⁵ Do not look intently at a virgin,
    or you may stumble and incur penalties for her.^(D)
6 Do not give yourself to prostitutes,
    or you may lose your inheritance.^(E)
7 Do not look around in the streets of a city
    or wander about in its deserted sections.^(F)
8 Turn away your eyes from a shapely woman,
    and do not gaze at beauty belonging to another;
many have been seduced by a woman’s beauty,
    and by it passion is kindled like a fire.^(G)
9 Never dine^[b] with another man’s wife
    or revel with her at wine,
or your heart may turn aside to her,
    and in blood^[c] you may plunge into destruction.^(H)

¹⁰ Do not abandon old friends,
    for new ones cannot equal them.
A new friend is like new wine;
    when it has aged, you will drink it with pleasure.^(I)

¹⁷ A work is praised for the skill of the artisan,
    so a people’s leader is proved wise by his words.
¹⁸ The loud of mouth are feared in their city,
    and the one who is reckless in speech is hated.^(O)

⁶ Do not get angry with your neighbor for every injury,
    and do not resort to acts of insolence.^(E)
7 Arrogance is hateful to the Lord and to mortals,
    and injustice is outrageous to both.^(F)
8 Sovereignty passes from nation to nation
    on account of injustice and insolence and wealth.^[b](G)
9 How can dust and ashes be proud?
    Even in life the human body is infested with worms.^[c](H)
10 A long illness mocks the physician;
    the king of today will die tomorrow.^(I)
11 For when humans die
    they inherit maggots and vermin^[d] and worms.^(J)
12 The beginning of human pride is to forsake the Lord;
    the heart has withdrawn from its Maker.^(K)
13 For the beginning of pride is sin,
    and the one who clings to it pours out abominations.
Therefore the Lord brought upon them unheard-of calamities
    and destroyed them completely.^[e]
14 The Lord overthrew the thrones of rulers
    and enthroned the lowly in their place.^(L)
15 The Lord plucked up the roots of the nations^[f]
    and planted the humble in their place.
¹⁶ The Lord laid waste the lands of the nations
    and destroyed them to the foundations of the earth.^(M)
17 He removed some of them and destroyed them
    and erased the memory of them from the earth.^(N)
18 Pride was not created for human beings
    or violent anger for those born of women.

¹⁹ Whose offspring are worthy of honor?
    Human offspring.
Whose offspring are worthy of honor?
    Those who fear the Lord.
Whose offspring are unworthy of honor?
    Human offspring.
Whose offspring are unworthy of honor?
    Those who break the commandments.^(O)
20 Among family members their leader is worthy of honor,
    but those who fear the Lord are worthy of honor in his eyes.^[g]
22 The guest and the stranger^[h] and the poor—
    their boast is the fear of the Lord.^(P)
23 It is not right to despise one who is intelligent but poor,
    and it is not proper to honor one who is sinful.^(Q)
24 The prince and the judge and the ruler are honored,
    but none of them is greater than the one who fears the Lord.^(R)
25 Free people will serve a wise slave,
    and an intelligent person will not complain.^(S)

²⁶ Do not make a display of your wisdom when you do your work,
    and do not extol yourself when you are in difficulty.
²⁷ Better those who work and have plenty
    than those who boast and lack bread.^(T)