repeat what is told thee, and thou shalt fare never the worse. Whether
it be of friend or foe, tell it not; and unless it is a sin to thee,
reveal it not: for he hath heard thee, and observed thee, and when the
time cometh he will hate thee. Hast thou heard a word? let it die with
thee: be of good courage, it will not burst thee. A fool will travail in
pain with a word, as a woman in labour with a child. As an arrow that
sticketh in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word in a fool's belly.
Reprove a friend: it may be he did it not, and if he did something, that
he may do it no more. Reprove thy neighbour: it may be he said it not,
and if he hath said it, that he may not say it again. Reprove a friend,
for many times there is slander; and trust not every word. There is one
that slippeth, and not from the heart; and who is he that hath not
sinned with his tongue? Reprove thy neighbour before thou threaten him;
and give place to the law of the Most High.

iv

On the Tongue

If thou blow a spark, it shall burn; and if thou spit upon it, it shall
be quenched: and both these shall come out of thy mouth. Curse the
whisperer and double-tongued: for he hath destroyed many that were at
peace. A third person's tongue hath shaken many, and dispersed them from
nation to nation; and it hath pulled down strong cities, and overthrown
the houses of great men. A third person's tongue hath cast out brave
women, and deprived them of their labours. He that hearkeneth unto it
shall not find rest, nor shall he dwell quietly. The stroke of a whip
maketh a mark in the flesh; but the stroke of a tongue will break
bones. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword; yet not so many as
they that have fallen because of the tongue. Happy is he that is
sheltered from it, that hath not passed through the wrath thereof; that
hath not drawn its yoke, and hath not been bound with its bands. For the
yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, and the bands thereof are bands of
brass. The death thereof is an evil death; and Hades were better than
it. It shall not have rule over godly men; and they shall not be burned
in its flame. They that forsake the Lord shall fall into it; and it
shall burn among them, and shall not be quenched: it shall be sent forth
upon them as a lion, and as a leopard it shall destroy them. Look that
thou hedge thy possession about with thorns; bind up thy silver and thy
gold; and make a balance and a weight for thy words; and make a door