Proverbs17

¹ Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.

² A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

³ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart.

⁴ A wicked person listens to deceitful lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵ Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶ Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

⁷ Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

⁸ A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it; they think success will come at every turn.

⁹ Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

¹⁰ A rebuke impresses a discerning person more than a hundred lashes a fool.

¹¹ Evildoers foster rebellion against God; the messenger of death will be sent against them.

¹² Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.

¹³ Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for good.

¹⁴ Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

¹⁵ Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the Lord detests them both.

¹⁶ Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

¹⁸ One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge and puts up security for a neighbor.

¹⁹ Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin; whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.

²⁰ One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper; one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.

²¹ To have a fool for a child brings grief; there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.

²² A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³ The wicked accept bribes in secret to pervert the course of justice.

²⁴ A discerning person keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the mother who bore him.

²⁶ If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good, surely to flog honest officials is not right.

²⁷ The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint, and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸ Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent, and discerning if they hold their tongues.