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37:1  Every friend declares friendship, but there are friends who are friends in name only.
37:2  Is it not a sorrow unto death when your other self becomes your enemy?
37:3  “Alas, my companion! Why were you created to fill the earth with deceit?”
37:4  A harmful friend will look to your table, but in time of trouble he stands aloof.
37:5  A good friend will fight with you against the foe, and against your enemies he will hold up your shield.
37:6  Do not forget your comrade during the battle, and do not neglect him when you distribute your spoils.
37:7  Every counselor points out a way, but some counsel ways of their own.
37:8  Watch out when one offers advice; find out first of all what he wants. For he also may be thinking of himself— Why should the opportunity fall to him?
37:9  He may tell you how good your way will be, and then stand by to see you impoverished.
37:10  Seek no advice from your father-in-law, and from one who is envious of you, keep your intentions hidden.
37:11  Seek no advice from a woman about her rival, from a coward about war, from a merchant about business, from a buyer about value, from a miser about generosity, from a cruel person about well-being, from a worthless worker about his work, from a seasonal laborer about the harvest, from an idle slave about a great task— pay no attention to any advice they give.
37:12  Instead, associate with a religious person, who you know keeps the commandments; Who is like-minded with yourself and will grieve for you if you fall.
37:13  Then, too, heed your own heart’s counsel; for there is nothing you can depend on more.
37:14  The heart can reveal your situation better than seven sentinels on a tower.
37:15  Then with all this, pray to God to make your steps firm in the true path.
37:16  A word is the source of every deed; a thought, of every act.
37:17  The root of all conduct is the heart;
37:18  four branches it shoots forth: Good and evil, death and life, and their absolute mistress is the tongue.
37:19  One may be wise and benefit many, yet appear foolish to himself.
37:20  One may be wise, but if his words are rejected, he will be deprived of all enjoyment.
37:22  When one is wise to his own advantage, the fruits of knowledge are seen in his own person.
37:23  When one is wise to the advantage of people, the fruits of knowledge are lasting.
37:24  One wise for himself has full enjoyment, and all who see him praise him.
37:25  The days of one’s life are numbered, but the life of Israel, days without number.
37:26  One wise among the people wins a heritage of glory, and his name lives on and on.
37:27  My son, while you are well, govern your appetite, and see that you do not allow it what is bad for you.
37:28  For not everything is good for everyone, nor is everything suited to every taste.
37:29  Do not go to excess with any enjoyment, neither become a glutton for choice foods;
37:30  For sickness comes with overeating, and gluttony brings on nausea.
37:31  Through lack of self-control many have died, but the abstemious one prolongs life.