18. Through sloth the rafters give way;
Through idleness the roof lets in the rain.
19. They misuse food and drink for feasting:
And gold putteth all things in their grasp.
20. Even in thy privacy curse not the king,
Nor in thy bed-chamber the wealthy;
The birds of heaven might divulge it,
And the feathered ones might report the word.
(b) In Private Life
XI. 1. Send forth thy bread over the surface of the waters, for after many days thou shall find it again. 2. Divide thy possessions into seven, yea, into eight portions! For thou knowest not what evil may befall the land. 3. If the clouds fill themselves with rain, they discharge it upon the earth; and whether the tree falleth towards the south or towards the north, in the place where it falleth, there shall it abide.
6. In the morning sow thy seed,
And until evening let not thy hand repose.[287]
For thou knowest not which one shall thrive, this or that, or whether they shall both prosper alike.
4. He that observeth the wind shall not sow;
He that watcheth the clouds shall not reap.
5. As thou knowest not the way of the wind, nor the growth of the bones in the womb of the mother, even so, thou canst not fathom the work of God who compasseth everything.
RECOMMENDATION OF WISDOM AS CIRCUMSPECTION
(a) In our Dealings with Women