²⁸ Loyalty and faithfulness will preserve a king,
    and he is upheld with the righteousness of his throne.

⁸ Crooked is the way of a man and a foreigner,
    but the pure is upright in his conduct.

²⁹ A wicked man is strong in his countenance,^[a]
    but the upright will appoint his paths.

¹⁰ Drive out a scoffer and strife will go out;
    quarrel and abuse will cease.
¹¹ He who loves purity of heart
    and hasgracious speech,^[a] his friend is the king.

⁶ Do not eat the bread of the stingy,^[a]
    and do not desire his delicacies.
⁷ For, like hair in his throat,^[b] so it is.^[c]
    “Eat and drink!” he will say to you,
    but his heart will not be with you.
⁸ Your morsel you have eaten, you will vomit it up,
    and you will waste your pleasant words.

⁵ Remove the wicked before a king,
    and his throne will be established in righteousness.^[a]

⁶ Like cutting off feet or drinking violence,
    so is he who sends messages in the hand of a fool.

¹⁰ Like an archer who wounds everyone,
    so is he who hires a fool or he who hires passersby.

²⁴ On his lips, an enemy will pretend,
    but inside^[a] he will harbor deceit.
²⁵ When he makes his voice gracious, do not believe him,
    for seven abominations are in his heart.
²⁶ Though hatred is covered with guile,
    its evil will be exposed in the assembly.
²⁷ He who digs a pit, in it he will fall,
    and he who rolls a stone, on him it will come back.
²⁸ A tongue of deceit hates its victim,
    and a flattering mouth makes ruin.