Proverbs 17

Chapter 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 son who acts shamefully,

and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

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

and the Lord tries hearts.

⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips;

and a liar gives heed to a mischievous tongue.

⁵He who mocks the poor insults his Maker;

he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.

⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,

and the glory of sons is their fathers.

⁷Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;

still less is false speech to a prince.

⁸A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of him who gives it;

wherever he turns he prospers.

⁹He who forgives an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter alienates a friend.

¹⁰A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding

than a hundred blows into a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion,

and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs,

rather than a fool in his folly.

¹³If a man returns evil for good,

evil will not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water;

so quit before the quarrel breaks out.

¹⁵He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous

are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

¹⁶Why should a fool have a price in his hand to buy wisdom,

when he has no mind?

¹⁷A friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸A man without sense gives a pledge,

and becomes surety in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹He who loves transgression loves strife;

he who makes his door high seeks destruction.

²⁰A man of crooked mind does not prosper,

and one with a perverse tongue falls into calamity.

²¹A stupid son is a grief to a father;

and the father of a fool has no joy.

²²A cheerful heart is a good medicine,

but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.

²³A wicked man accepts a bribe from the bosom

to pervert the ways of justice.

²⁴A man of understanding sets his face toward wisdom,

but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is a grief to his father

and bitterness to her who bore him.

²⁶To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good;

to flog noble men is wrong.

²⁷He who restrains his words has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool who keeps silent is considered wise;

when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.