Proverbs 17

¹Better a dry crust with peace and quiet

than a house full of feasting, with strife.

²A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son

and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

³The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,

but the Lord tests the heart.

⁴A wicked person listens to deceitful lips;

a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;

whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶Children’s children are a crown to the aged,

and parents are the pride of their children.

⁷Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool—

how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

⁸A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it;

they think success will come at every turn.

⁹Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,

but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

¹⁰A rebuke impresses a discerning person

more than a hundred lashes a fool.

¹¹Evildoers foster rebellion against God;

the messenger of death will be sent against them.

¹²Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs

than a fool bent on folly.

¹³Evil will never leave the house

of one who pays back evil for good.

¹⁴Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;

so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—

the Lord detests them both.

¹⁶Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom,

when they are not able to understand it?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

¹⁸One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge

and puts up security for a neighbor.

¹⁹Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin;

whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.

²⁰One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper;

one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.

²¹To have a fool for a child brings grief;

there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.

²²A cheerful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³The wicked accept bribes in secret

to pervert the course of justice.

²⁴A discerning person keeps wisdom in view,

but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son brings grief to his father

and bitterness to the mother who bore him.

²⁶If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good,

surely to flog honest officials is not right.

²⁷The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,

and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,

and discerning if they hold their tongues.