Proverbs 17
17
1 Better a dry morsel and quiet with it
than a house filled with feasts of strife.
2A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully,
and in the midst of brothers he will share his inheritance.
3A crucible is for the silver, and a furnace is for the gold,
but Yahweh will test hearts.
4He who does evil listens to lips of wickedness,
and the liar gives heed to the tongue of mischief.
5He who mocks the poor insults him who made him;
he who rejoices at calamity will not go unpunished.
6The crown of the elderly are grandchildren,#Literally “sons of sons”
and the glory of children is their fathers.
7Fine speech#Literally “A lip of fineness” is not becoming a fool,
still less#Literally “only for” is false speech#Literally “lip of deceit” for a ruler.
8The bribe is a stone of magic in the eyes of its owner;#Or “master”
everywhere#Literally “to all which” he will turn, he will prosper.
9He who forgives an affront fosters love,
but he who waits on a matter will alienate a friend.
10A rebuke strikes him who understands
deeper than one hundred blows to a fool.
11An evil person will seek only rebellion,
and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12May a man meet a she-bear robbed of offspring
and not a fool in his folly.
13For he who returns evil for good,
evil will not depart from his house.
14Like the release of water is the beginning of strife;
before it breaks out, stop the quarrel.
15He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,
the two of them are both abominations of Yahweh.
16Why is this? A price in the hand of a fool,
in order to buy wisdom where#Hebrew “and” there is no sense.#Literally “heart”
17The friend loves at all times#Hebrew “time”,
but a brother is born for adversity.
18A person who lacks sense#Literally “heart” pledges;#Literally “pledges a hand”
he becomes security before his neighbor.
19He who loves transgression loves strife;
he who builds his high thresholds seeks destruction.
20He who is crooked of heart#Or “mind” will not find goodness,
and he who is perverse, by his tongue he will fall into calamity.
21He who begets a fool, there is trouble for him;
the father of a fool will not rejoice.
22A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a downcast spirit will dry out bones.
23The wicked will accept a bribe from the lap,
in order to pervert the ways of justice.
24He who understands sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool, to the end of the earth.#Or “land”
25A grief to his father is the child of a fool,
and bitterness to her who bore him.
26Also, imposing a fine on the righteous is not good,
nor to flog nobles for uprightness.
27He who spares his sayings knows knowledge,
and a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28Even a fool who keeps silent shall be considered wise;#Literally “wise, he shall be considered”
he who closes his lips is intelligent.
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