12. If you blow a spark, it shall burn; And if you spit upon it, it shall be quenched: And both these shall come out of your mouth.
13. Curse the whisperer and double-tongued: For he has destroyed many that were at peace.
14. A third person’s tongue has shaken many, And dispersed them from nation to nation; And it has pulled down strong cities, And overthrown the houses of great men.
15. A third person’s tongue has cast out brave women, And deprived them of their labors.
16. He that hearkens to it shall not find rest, Nor shall he dwell quietly.
17. The stroke of a whip makes a mark in the flesh; But the stroke of a tongue will break bones.
18. Many have fallen by the edge of the sword: Yet not so many as they that have fallen because of the tongue.
19. Happy is he that is sheltered from it, That has not passed through the wrath thereof; That has not drawn its yoke, And has not been bound with its bands.
20. For the yoke thereof is a yoke of iron, And the bands thereof are bands of brass.
21. The death thereof is an evil death; And Hades were better than it.