11:1 The wisdom of the humble lifts their heads high, and seats them among the great.
11:2 Do not praise individuals for their good looks, or loathe anyone because of appearance alone.
11:3 The bee is small among flying creatures, but what it produces is the best of sweet things.
11:4 Do not boast about wearing fine clothes, and do not exalt yourself when you are honored; for the works of the Lord are wonderful, and his works are concealed from humankind.
11:5 Many kings have had to sit on the ground, but one who was never thought of has worn a crown.
11:6 Many rulers have been utterly disgraced, and the honored have been handed over to others.
11:7 Do not find fault before you investigate; examine first, and then criticize.
11:8 Do not answer before you listen, and do not interrupt when another is speaking.
11:9 Do not argue about a matter that does not concern you, and do not sit with sinners when they judge a case.
11:10 My child, do not busy yourself with many matters; if you multiply activities, you will not be held blameless. If you pursue, you will not overtake, and by fleeing you will not escape.
11:11 There are those who work and struggle and hurry, but are so much the more in want.
11:12 There are others who are slow and need help, who lack strength and abound in poverty; but the eyes of the Lord look kindly upon them; he lifts them out of their lowly condition
11:13 and raises up their heads to the amazement of the many.
11:14 Good things and bad, life and death, poverty and wealth, come from the Lord.
11:17 The Lord’s gift remains with the devout, and his favor brings lasting success.
11:18 One becomes rich through diligence and self-denial, and the reward allotted to him is this:
11:19 when he says, “I have found rest, and now I shall feast on my goods!” he does not know how long it will be until he leaves them to others and dies.
11:20 Stand by your agreement and attend to it, and grow old in your work.
11:21 Do not wonder at the works of a sinner, but trust in the Lord and keep at your job; for it is easy in the sight of the Lord to make the poor rich suddenly, in an instant.
11:22 The blessing of the Lord is the reward of the pious, and quickly God causes his blessing to flourish.
11:23 Do not say, “What do I need, and what further benefit can be mine?”
11:24 Do not say, “I have enough, and what harm can come to me now?”
11:25 In the day of prosperity, adversity is forgotten, and in the day of adversity, prosperity is not remembered.
11:26 For it is easy for the Lord on the day of death to reward individuals according to their conduct.
11:27 An hour’s misery makes one forget past delights, and at the close of one’s life one’s deeds are revealed.
11:28 Call no one happy before his death; by how he ends, a person becomes known.
11:29 Do not invite everyone into your home, for many are the tricks of the crafty.
11:30 Like a decoy partridge in a cage, so is the mind of the proud, and like spies they observe your weakness;
11:31 for they lie in wait, turning good into evil, and to worthy actions they attach blame.
11:32 From a spark many coals are kindled, and a sinner lies in wait to shed blood.
11:33 Beware of scoundrels, for they devise evil, and they may ruin your reputation forever.
11:34 Receive strangers into your home and they will stir up trouble for you, and will make you a stranger to your own family.
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