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21:1  Have you sinned, my child? Do so no more, but ask forgiveness for your past sins.
21:2  Flee from sin as from a snake, for if you approach sin it will bite you. Its teeth are lion’s teeth and can destroy human lives.
21:3  All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword; there is no healing for the wound it inflicts.
21:4  Panic and insolence will waste away riches; thus the house of the proud will be uprooted.
21:5  The prayer of the poor goes from their lips to the ears of God, and his judgment comes speedily.
21:6  Those who hate reproof walk in the sinner’s steps, but those who fear the Lord repent in their heart.
21:7  The mighty in speech are widely known; when they slip, the sensible person knows it.
21:8  Those who build their houses with other people’s money are like those who gather stones for their own burial mounds.
21:9  An assembly of the lawless is like a bundle of tinder, and their end is a blazing fire.
21:10  The way of sinners is paved with smooth stones, but at its end is the pit of Hades.
21:11  Those who keep the law control their thoughts, and the fulfillment of the fear of the Lord is wisdom.
21:12  Those who are not clever cannot be taught, but there is a cleverness that increases bitterness.
21:13  The knowledge of the wise will increase like a flood and their counsel like a life-giving spring.
21:14  The mind of a fool is like a broken jar; it can hold no knowledge.
21:15  When intelligent people hear a wise saying, they praise it and add to it; when fools hear it, they laugh at it and throw it behind their backs.
21:16  The chatter of fools is like a burden on a journey, but delight is found in the speech of the intelligent.
21:17  The utterance of sensible people is sought in the assembly, and they ponder their words in their minds.
21:18  Like a house in ruins is wisdom to a fool, and the knowledge of the ignorant is meaningless talk.
21:19  To the senseless, education is fetters on their feet and like manacles on their right hands.
21:20  Fools raise their voices when they laugh, but the wise smile quietly.
21:21  To the sensible, education is like a golden ornament and like a bracelet on the right arm.
21:22  The foot of a fool rushes into a house, but an experienced person waits respectfully outside.
21:23  A boor peers into the house from the door, but a cultivated person remains outside.
21:24  It is ill-mannered for a person to listen at a door; the discreet would be grieved by the disgrace.
21:25  The lips of babblers speak of what is not their concern, but the words of the prudent are weighed in the balance.
21:26  The mind of fools is in their mouth, but the mouth of the wise is in their mind.
21:27  When ungodly people curse an adversary, they curse themselves.
21:28  Whisperers degrade themselves and are hated in their neighborhoods.