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13:1  Whoever touches pitch gets dirty, and whoever associates with the proud will become like them.
13:2  Do not lift a weight too heavy for you or associate with one mightier and richer than you. How can the clay pot associate with the iron kettle? The pot will strike against it and be smashed.
13:3  A rich person does wrong and even adds insults; a poor person suffers wrong and must add apologies.
13:4  Rich people will exploit you if you can be of use to them, but if you are in need they will abandon you.
13:5  If you own something, they will live with you; they will drain your resources without a qualm.
13:6  When they need you, they will deceive you and will smile at you and encourage you; they will speak to you kindly and say, “What do you need?”
13:7  They will embarrass you with their delicacies, until they have drained you two or three times, and finally they will laugh at you. Should they see you afterwards, they will pass you by and shake their heads at you.
13:8  Take care not to be led astray and humiliated when you are enjoying yourself.
13:9  When the influential invite you, be reserved, and they will invite you more insistently.
13:10  Do not be forward, or you may be rebuffed; do not stand aloof, or you will be forgotten.
13:11  Do not try to treat them as equals or trust their lengthy conversations, for they will test you by prolonged talk, and while they smile they will be examining you.
13:12  Cruel are those who do not keep your secrets; they will not spare you harm or imprisonment.
13:13  Be on your guard and very careful, for you are walking about with your own downfall.
13:15  Every creature loves its like and every person a neighbor.
13:16  All living beings associate with their own kind, and people stick close to those like themselves.
13:17  What does a wolf have in common with a lamb? No more has a sinner with the devout.
13:18  What peace is there between a hyena and a dog, and what peace between the rich and the poor?
13:19  Wild asses in the wilderness are the prey of lions; likewise the poor are feeding grounds for the rich.
13:20  Humility is an abomination to the proud; likewise the poor are an abomination to the rich.
13:21  When the rich person totters, he is supported by friends, but when the humble falls, he is pushed away by friends.
13:22  If the rich person slips, many come to the rescue; he speaks unseemly words, but they justify him. If the humble person slips, they even criticize him; he talks sense but is not given a hearing.
13:23  The rich person speaks, and all are silent; they extol to the clouds what he says. The poor person speaks, and they say, “Who is this fellow?” And should he stumble, they push him down.
13:24  Riches are good if they are free from sin; poverty is evil only in the opinion of the ungodly.
13:25  The heart changes the countenance either for good or for evil.
13:26  The sign of a happy heart is a cheerful face, but to devise proverbs requires strenuous thinking.