17. The re'a (friend) loveth at all times, and a brother is born for tzarah (adversity).
18. Adam devoid of lev [of understanding] shaketh hands in pledge, and becometh the security deposit for his neighbor.
19. He loveth peysha (transgression, sin) that loveth strife, and he that maketh his threshold high seeketh shever (fracture).
20. He that hath a crooked mind findeth no tov, and he that hath a deceitful lashon falleth into ra'ah.
21. He that begetteth a kesil doeth it to his sorrow, and the avi naval hath no simchah.
22. A lev same'ach doeth tov like a medicine, but a downcast ruach drieth up the bones.
23. A rasha accepts a shochad (bribe) out of the kheyk (bosom, i.e., secretly) to pervert the orkhot mishpat (paths of justice).
24. Chochmah is before the meiven (discerning one); but the eynayim of a kesil are on the ends of ha'aretz.
25. A ben kesil is a ka'as (grief) to aviv (his father), and bitterness to her that bore him.
26. Also to punish the tzaddik is not tov, nor to flog officials for their yashar (uprightness, integrity).