21 ¹ Have you sinned, my son?
Do so no more, but pray about your former sins.
21 ² Flee from sin as from a snake;
for if you approach sin, it will bite you.
Its teeth are lion's teeth,
and destroy the souls of men.
21 ³ All lawlessness is like a two-edged sword;
there is no healing for its wound.

21 ⁴ Terror and violence will lay waste riches;
thus the house of the proud will be laid waste.
21 ⁵ The prayer of a poor man goes from his lips to the ears of God,
and his judgment comes speedily.
21 ⁶ Whoever hates reproof walks in the steps of the sinner,
but he that fears the Lord will repent in his heart.
21 ⁷ He who is mighty in speech is known from afar;
but the sensible man, when he slips, is aware of it.

21 ⁸ A man who builds his house with other people's money
is like one who gathers stones for his burial mound.
21 ⁹ An assembly of the wicked is like tow gathered together,
and their end is a flame of fire.
21 ¹⁰ The way of sinners is smoothly paved with stones,
but at its end is the pit of Hades.