2. But if you forgive someone who has wronged you, your sins will be forgiven when you pray.
3. You cannot expect the Lord to pardon you while you are bearing a grudge against someone else.
4. You yourself are a sinner, and if you won't forgive another person, you have no right to pray that the Lord will forgive your sins.
5. If you cannot get rid of your anger, you have no hope of forgiveness — you are only a human being.
6. Think about it! Some day you will die, and your body will decay. So give up hate and live by the Lord's commands,
7. the commands in the covenant of the Most High. Instead of getting upset over your neighbour's faults, overlook them.
8. If you stay out of arguments, you will not sin so much, because a hot temper gets them started.
9. It is sinful to break up a friendship by creating hostility among people who get along well together.
19-20. Count yourself lucky if you have been spared the experience of having irresponsible talk directed against you — if you have never had that iron yoke round your neck or those heavy chains on your legs.
21. Slander leads to a miserable death; but in fact, you'd be better off dead.
22. Devout people, however, cannot be overcome by slander; they cannot be burnt by its flames.
23. Its victims are those who have abandoned the Lord; once the fire of slander has been lit among them, it cannot be put out. Slander will pounce on them like a lion and tear them to pieces like a leopard.
24. Don't you fence in your property? Don't you lock up your money?
25. Well, be just as careful with what you say. Weigh every word, and have a lock ready for your mouth.
26. Someone may be waiting for you to slip, and if you are not careful, you will stumble over your own words and fall down in front of him.