Against Loose Talk

⁴One who trusts others too quickly has a shallow mind,
   and one who sins does wrong to himself.
⁵One who rejoices in wickedness^* will be condemned,^*
6   but one who hates gossip has less evil.
⁷Never repeat a conversation,
   and you will lose nothing at all.
⁸With friend or foe do not report it,
   and unless it would be a sin for you, do not reveal it;
⁹for someone may have heard you and watched you,
   and in time will hate you.
¹⁰Have you heard something? Let it die with you.
   Be brave, it will not make you burst!
¹¹Having heard something, the fool suffers birth-pangs
   like a woman in labour with a child.
¹²Like an arrow stuck in a person’s thigh,
   so is gossip inside a fool.

¹³Question a friend; perhaps he did not do it;
   or if he did, so that he may not do it again.
¹⁴Question a neighbour; perhaps he did not say it;
   or if he said it, so that he may not repeat it.
¹⁵Question a friend, for often it is slander;
   so do not believe everything you hear.
¹⁶A person may make a slip without intending it.
   Who has not sinned with his tongue?
¹⁷Question your neighbour before you threaten him;
   and let the law of the Most High take its course.^*