Proverbs 17

Proverbs 17

¹Better is a dry morsel with quiet[#Prov 15.17]

than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully[#Prov 10.5]

and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

³The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,[#Ps 26.2; Prov 27.21]

but the Lord tests the heart.

⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

and a liar gives heed to a mischievous tongue.

⁵Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;[#Job 31.29; Prov 14.31]

those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,[#Prov 13.22]

and the glory of children is their parents.

⁷Excess speech is not becoming to a fool;

still less is false speech to a ruler.

⁸A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of those who give it;[#Prov 21.14; Isa 1.23; Am 5.12]

wherever they turn they prosper.

⁹One who forgives an affront fosters friendship,[#Prov 10.12; 16.28; Jas 5.20; 1 Pet 4.8]

but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.

¹⁰A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person

than a hundred blows into a fool.

¹¹Evil people seek only rebellion,

but a cruel messenger will be sent against them.

¹²Better to meet a she-bear robbed of its cubs[#Hos 13.8]

than to confront a fool immersed in folly.

¹³Evil will not depart from the house[#Ps 109.4, 5; Jer 18.20]

of one who returns evil for good.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water,[#Prov 20.3]

so stop before the quarrel breaks out.

¹⁵One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous[#Ex 23.7; Isa 5.23]

are both alike an abomination to the Lord .

¹⁶Why should fools have a price in hand

to buy wisdom when they have no mind to learn?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times,[#Ruth 1.16; Prov 18.24]

and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.

¹⁸It is senseless to give a pledge,[#Prov 6.1]

to become surety for a neighbor.

¹⁹One who loves transgression loves strife;[#Prov 16.18; 29.22]

one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones.

²⁰The crooked of mind do not prosper,[#Jas 3.8]

and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.

²¹The one who fathers a fool gets trouble;[#Prov 10.1; 19.13]

the parent of a fool has no joy.

²²A cheerful heart is a good medicine,[#Ps 22.15; Prov 15.13]

but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.

²³The wicked accept a concealed bribe[#Ex 23.8]

to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴The discerning person looks to wisdom,[#Eccl 2.14]

but the eyes of a fool to the ends of the earth.

²⁵Foolish children are a grief to their father[#Prov 10.1]

and bitterness to her who bore them.

²⁶To impose a fine on the innocent is not right[#Prov 18.5]

or to flog the noble for their integrity.

²⁷One who spares words is knowledgeable;[#Jas 1.19]

one who is cool in spirit has understanding.

²⁸Even fools who keep silent are considered wise;[#Job 13.5]

when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent.