Proverbs 17

¹Better is a dry morsel with quiet

than a house full of feasting with strife.

²A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully,

and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

³The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

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;

those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,

and the glory of children is their parents.

⁷Fine 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;

wherever they turn they prosper.

⁹One who forgives an affront fosters friendship,

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

than to confront a fool immersed in folly.

¹³Evil will not depart from the house

of one who returns evil for good.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water;

so stop before the quarrel breaks out.

¹⁵One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous

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,

and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.

¹⁸It is senseless to give a pledge,

to become surety for a neighbor.

¹⁹One who loves transgression loves strife;

one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones.

²⁰The crooked of mind do not prosper,

and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.

²¹The one who begets a fool gets trouble;

the parent of a fool has no joy.

²²A cheerful heart is a good medicine,

but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.

²³The wicked accept a concealed bribe

to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴The discerning person looks to wisdom,

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

²⁵Foolish children are a grief to their father

and bitterness to her who bore them.

²⁶To impose a fine on the innocent is not right,

or to flog the noble for their integrity.

²⁷One who spares words is knowledgeable;

one who is cool in spirit has understanding.

²⁸Even fools who keep silent are considered wise;

when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent.