19 ⁷ Never repeat a conversation,
and you will lose nothing at all.
19 ⁸ With friend or foe do not report it,
and unless it would be a sin for you, do not disclose it;
19 ⁹ for some one has heard you and watched you,
and when the time comes he will hate you.
19 ¹⁰ Have you heard a word? Let it die with you.
Be brave! It will not make you burst!
19 ¹¹ With such a word a fool will suffer pangs
like a woman in labour with a child.
19 ¹² Like an arrow stuck in the flesh of the thigh,
so is a word inside a fool.

19 ¹³ Question a friend, perhaps he did not do it;
but if he did anything, so that he may do it no more.
19 ¹⁴ Question a neighbour, perhaps he did not say it;
but if he said it, so that he may not say it again.
19 ¹⁵ Question a friend, for often it is slander;
so do not believe everything you hear.
19 ¹⁶ A person may make a slip without intending it.
Who has never sinned with his tongue?
19 ¹⁷ Question your neighbour before you threaten him;
and let the law of the Most High take its course.