Do not make friends with an angry person, and do not associate with a person who is hot-tempered, lest you learn his ways and bring a noose on your soul (22:24-25).

From the above texts, it is clearly seen that the strife so familiar to the human race exposes the presence of a fool, a proud man and a blasphemer, that is, it is directly related to impiety.

Another "harmless" vice is laziness. Leaving the reader to find his own teachings about this ailment, we will limit ourselves to a small comment. At first glance, it seems that Solomon is very worried about a lazy man, because he could work and earn, but he does not work, and therefore is poor. But is this the end of the matter?

The path of the lazy is contrasted with the path of the righteous, thereby separating the former from the latter. A lazy person has an effeminate soul, devoid of courage, that is, he lives in fear. The vineyard of the lazy man (i.e., his soul) is overgrown with weeds, and the stone fence around him is destroyed. He cannot change either what is around him or what is inside. How can you not live in fear?

If we take such a vice as verbosity, we get the most convincing illustration of the Gospel sayings about defilement by those who proceed out of the mouth (Matt. 15:11) and the answer for idle words (Matt. 12:36).

Now let's turn to the virtues, choosing mercy as an example.

By mercy and righteousness sin is cleansed, and the fear of the Lord turns away from evil (16:6).

He who does good to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his good deeds (19:17).

A merciful man does good to his soul, but a hard-hearted man destroys his flesh (11:17).

Whoever mocks the poor blasphemes his Maker; he who rejoices in misfortune will not remain unpunished [but the merciful will have mercy] (17:5).

Whoever oppresses the poor blasphemes his Maker; but he who honors Him does good to the needy (14:31).

Whoever stops his ear from the cry of the poor will cry out himself, and will not be heard (21:13).

He who multiplies his possessions with growth and interest will gather them for the benefactor of the poor (28:8).

He who gives to the poor will not become poor; but whoever closes his eyes from Him has many curses on him (28:27).