[Compare Prov. 5:3, f.]
18. If thou desirest that thy procedure be good, withhold thee from all evil, beware of occasion of avarice ...... He who enters therein does not get on. It corrupts fathers, mothers, and mothers’ brothers. It divides wife and man; it is plunder (made up) of everything evil; it is a bundle of everything base. Established is the man whose standard is righteousness, who walks in its way. He is used to make his fortune thereby, (but) the avaricious is houseless.
19. Be not avaricious in dividing ...... Be not avaricious towards thy kin. Greater is the fame of the gentle than (that of) the harsh.
20. If thou art successful, establish thy house. Love thy wife in husbandly embrace, fill her body, clothe her back. The recipe for her limbs is ointment. Gladden her heart as long as thou livest. She is a profitable field for her lord.
[Compare Eccles. 9:9.]
21. Satisfy those who enter to thee (come into thy office) with that which thou hast.
22. Repeat not a word of hearsay.
23. If thou art an able man who sits in the council of his lord, summon thy understanding to excellent things. Be silent.
24. If thou art a strong man, establish the respect of thee by wisdom and by quietness of speech.
25. Approach not a prince in his time. [Apparently an idiom for some particular mood.]