This text exists in smaller parts in several different places; the Turin Museum, the Pushkin Museum in Moscow, the Louvre, an ostracon in Cairo and a fragmentary papyrus in Stockholm. It is dated to the New Kingdom, though the theme; the virtue of silence and composure as opposed to hot-temper and impatience, is found in earlier texts.
The major text is found on an almost complete manuscript in British Museum (BM10474) and is generally agreed to be from the New Kingdom period.
The author was from Akhmim north of Abydos, and is believed to have been written shortly before the reign of Amenhotep III. The numbers in front of the lines refer to the numbers of the lines in the original text.
This translation is cited from 'The Literature of Ancient Egypt', edited by W.K. Simpson, and is not intended to be more than my own favourite quotes.
Chapter2:
Beware of stealing from a miserable man
And of raging against the cripple.
Do not stretch out your hand to touch an old man,
Nor snip at the words of an elder.
....
Something else of value in the heart of God
Is to stop and think before speaking.
Chapter 3:
5,10
Do not get into a quarrel with the argumentative man
Nor incite him with words;
Proceed cautiously before an opponent,
And give way to an adversary;
Sleep on it before speaking,
...
May you be restrained before him;
Leave him to himself,
And God will know how to answer him.
Chapter 4:
The truly temperate man sets himself apart,
He is like a tree grown in a sunlit filed,
But it flourishes, it doubles its yield,
it stands before its owner;
Its fruit is something sweet, its shade is pleasant...
Chapter 5:
Do not take by violence the shares of the temple
Do not be grasping, and you will find overabundance...
Do not say today is the same as tomorrow,
Or how will matters come to pass?
When tomorrow comes, today is past...
Fill yourself with silence, you will find life...
Chapter 6:
Better is the bushel which God gives you
Than five thousand deceitfully gotten...
Better is bread when the mind is at ease
Than riches with anxiety.
Chapter 7:
9,10
Do not set your heart upon seeking riches,
For there is no one who can ignore Destiny and Fortune;
do not set your thought on external matters:
for every man there is his appointed time.
Chapter 8
Keep your tongue safe from words of detraction,
and you will be the loved one of the people....
If you hear something good or bad,
say it outside, where it is not heard;
Set a good report on your tongue,
While the bad thing is covered up inside you
Chapter 9
Do not fraternize with the hot-tempered man,
Nor apporach him to converse
Safeguard your tongue from answering your superior
...
When a manīs heart is upset, words travel faster
Than wind and rain
Chapter 10
Do not converse falsey with a man,
For it is the abomination of God
Do not separate your mind from your tongue
All your plans will succeed.
Chapter 11
If you are at a loss before your superior
And are confused in your speeches,
Your flatterings are turned back with curses,
And your humble actions by beatings.
Whoever fills the mouth with too much bread
swallows it and spits up,
So he is emptied of his good.
Chapter 13
Do not lead a man astray with reed pen and papyrus document:
It is the abomination of God
....
Better it is to be praised as one loved by men
Than wealth in the storehouse;
Better is bread when the mind is at ease
Than riches with troubles
(There are thirty 'chapters' in all, here only a part are quoted.)
