Proverbs 15:15–30

¹⁵A miserable heart means a miserable life;

a cheerful heart fills the day with song.

¹⁶A simple life in the Fear-of-God

is better than a rich life with a ton of headaches.

¹⁷Better a bread crust shared in love

than a slab of prime rib served in hate.

¹⁸Hot tempers start fights;

a calm, cool spirit keeps the peace.

¹⁹The path of lazy people is overgrown with briers;

the diligent walk down a smooth road.

²⁰Intelligent children make their parents proud;

lazy students embarrass their parents.

²¹The empty-headed treat life as a plaything;

the perceptive grasp its meaning and make a go of it.

²²Refuse good advice and watch your plans fail;

take good counsel and watch them succeed.

²³Congenial conversation—what a pleasure!

The right word at the right time—beautiful!

²⁴Life ascends to the heights for the thoughtful—

it’s a clean about-face from descent into hell.

²⁵God smashes the pretensions of the arrogant;

he stands with those who have no standing.

²⁶God can’t stand evil scheming,

but he puts words of grace and beauty on display.

²⁷A greedy and grasping person destroys community;

those who refuse to exploit live and let live.

²⁸Prayerful answers come from God-loyal people;

the wicked are sewers of abuse.

²⁹God keeps his distance from the wicked;

he closely attends to the prayers of God-loyal people.

³⁰A twinkle in the eye means joy in the heart,

and good news makes you feel fit as a fiddle.