8. Do not reveal your mind to friend or foe. And if there is a sin within you, do not disclose it.
9. For he will listen to you and watch you, and while pretending to defend your sin, he will despise you, and so he will be whenever he is with you.
10. Have you heard a word against your neighbor? Let it die within you, trusting that it will not burst forth from you.
11. Before the face of a word, a foolish man labors, like a woman groaning as she gives birth to a child.
12. Like an arrow fixed in the flesh of the thigh, so is a word in the heart of a foolish man.
13. Correct a friend, though perhaps there was a misunderstanding, and he may say, "I did not do it." Or, if he did do it, correct him, so that he may not do it again.
14. Correct your neighbor, for perhaps he did not say it. But if he did say it, correct him, so that he may not say it again.
15. Correct your friend. For often a fault has been committed.
16. And do not believe every word. There is one who slips with his word, but not with his heart.
17. For who is there who has not offended with his words? Correct your neighbor before you reprimand him.