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21:1  My child, if you have sinned, don’t do it any longer, and pray concerning your previous sins.
21:2  Run away from sin like you would from a snake: If you go near it, it will bite you. Its teeth are lion’s teeth, destroying a person’s life.
21:3  All lawlessness is a two-edged sword, and there’s no healing for its wound.
21:4  Alarm and insolence will strip away wealth; thus will an arrogant person’s house be uprooted.
21:5  The petition of the poor goes from their mouth to God’s ears, and his judgment comes quickly.
21:6  Anyone who hates reproof walks in the footsteps of a sinner, and those who fear the Lord will turn back to him from the heart.
21:7  Those who are powerful in speech are widely known, but those who are thoughtful know when they slip.
21:8  Those who build their houses with another person’s money are like those who gather stones for their own burial mound.
21:9  A gathering of lawless people is the same as bundled flax; their end is a flaming fire.
21:10  The path of sinners is made level with stones, but its end is the pit of hell.
21:11  Those who keep the Law become masters of their thoughts; fearing the Lord leads ultimately to wisdom.
21:12  Those who aren’t clever won’t receive instruction, but there is a kind of cleverness that makes troubles multiply.
21:13  The knowledge of the wise will increase like a flood, and their counsel is like a stream of life.
21:14  The mind of a fool is like a broken jar: it can’t hold knowledge.
21:15  If those who understand hear a wise word; they will praise it and add to it. Those who like to indulge themselves hear it and are displeased, and they turn their back on it.
21:16  A fool’s endless talk is a burden while on a journey, but grace will be found on the lips of the intelligent.
21:17  The speech of the prudent will be sought out in an assembly, and its members will take their words to heart.
21:18  Like a house in disrepair, so is wisdom to the foolish, and the knowledge of ignorant people will not stand up to examination.
21:19  Education is shackles on the feet of the ignorant, like manacles on their hand.
21:20  Fools raise their voice in laughter, but clever people will smile subtly in silence.
21:21  To the prudent, education is like a gold ornament, like a bracelet on the arm.
21:22  The foolish enter quickly into a house, but experienced people will be ashamed to do so.
21:23  The senseless peer into a house through the door, but the educated will stand outside.
21:24  Ignorance causes people to listen through a door, but the prudent will be distressed at the dishonor of doing so.
21:25  The lips of strangers will report these things, but the words of the prudent will be placed on a balance.
21:26  Fools say whatever is on their minds, but the wise remain mindful of what they say.
21:27  When the ungodly curse their enemies, they curse themselves.
21:28  Those who whisper stain themselves, and they will be hated by their neighbors.