This gossip sets homes ablaze,

destroying peace in the villages.

It's always wiping dirt from its mouth

and leaving people amazed.

Listen, step back if you gossip,

because you've spurned the truth.

The gullible shouldn't be fooled:

it's a pack of scampering dogs.

This gossip sets people at odds,

it travels with strife, expels human kindness.

I won't pull punches: it diminishes dignity

like a river bulging with rain.

Nobody cares for a gossip,

whatever he may do,

as tall as I am down on my knees.

I won't repeat what I've often said.

A wagging tongue affords no rest.

However much it sounds its trumpet

it takes no part when people fight:

it's a pack of scampering dogs.

A wagging tongue's a murderer

lurking within the body.

A nation of gossips is a nation of liars

and Satan's the father of lies.

Never betray your own for gain.

May your joy in betrayal turn to despair

and roast in the fire on judgement day,

your power perish, leaving you nothing.

Don't bear false witness,

kill your own with a lie;

don't profit by him or ambush him:

if you do, you'll be destroyed.

The one who presents a false face

is a liar: abandon all trust in him.

He rolls the enemy's boulders down,

he lies till his navel collapses.

“Once upon a time,” say those who know.

We gossips will come to grief:

when we tell the truth no one listens

for we hardly know what's true.

A liar is nothing human.

He has no roots. Let the killer die.

He lies while praying to God,

since people are God in effect.

A wagging tongue's a raging fire,

there is no greater danger;

it consumes all in its path.

What do the learned have to say?

Awu! Oh yes indeed!!