6
and for one who hates gossip evil is lessened.
7
Never repeat a conversation, and you will lose nothing at all.
8
With friend or foe do not report it, and unless it would be a sin for you, do not disclose it;
9
for some one has heard you and watched you, and when the time comes he will hate you.
10
Have you heard a word? Let it die with you. Be brave! It will not make you burst!
11
With such a word a fool will suffer pangs like a woman in labor with a child.
12
Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word inside a fool.
13
Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it; but if he did anything, so that he may do it no more.
14
Question a neighbor, perhaps he did not say it; but if he said it, so that he may not say it again.
15
Question a friend, for often it is slander; so do not believe everything you hear.
16
A person may make a slip without intending it. Who has never sinned with his tongue?