17
1Better is⚓a dry morsel with quietness,
Than a house full of feasting with strife.
2A wise servant will rule over ⚓a son who causes shame,
And will share an inheritance among the brothers.
3The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold,
⚓But the Lord tests the hearts.
4An evildoer gives heed to false lips;
A liar listens eagerly to a spiteful tongue.
5⚓He who mocks the poor reproaches his Maker;
⚓He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
6⚓Children’s children are the crown of old men,
And the glory of children is their father.
7Excellent speech is not becoming to a fool,
Much less lying lips to a prince.
8A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor;
Wherever he turns, he prospers.
9⚓He who covers a transgression seeks love,
But ⚓he who repeats a matter separates friends.
10⚓Rebuke is more effective for a wise man
Than a hundred blows on a fool.
11An evil man seeks only rebellion;
Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12Let a man meet ⚓a bear robbed of her cubs,
Rather than a fool in his folly.
13Whoever ⚓rewards evil for good,
Evil will not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is like releasing water;
Therefore ⚓stop contention before a quarrel starts.
15⚓He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.
16Why is there in the hand of a fool the purchase price of wisdom,
Since he has no heart for it?
17⚓A friend loves at all times,
And a brother is born for adversity.
18⚓A man devoid of understanding shakes hands in a pledge,
And becomes surety for his friend.
19He who loves transgression loves strife,
And ⚓he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
20He who has a deceitful heart finds no good,
And he who has ⚓a perverse tongue falls into evil.
21He who begets a scoffer does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool has no joy.
22A ⚓merry heart does good, like medicine,
But a broken spirit dries the bones.
23A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back
To pervert the ways of justice.
24⚓Wisdom is in the sight of him who has understanding,
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25A ⚓foolish son is a grief to his father,
And bitterness to her who bore him.
26Also, to punish the righteous is not good,
Nor to strike princes for their uprightness.
27⚓He who has knowledge spares his words,
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
28⚓Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.