Proverbs 17

1  a Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting ▼
▼ Hebrew sacrifices
 with strife.
 2 A servant who deals wisely will rule over c a son who acts shamefully
and d will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
 3  e The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
f and the  Lord tests hearts.
 4 An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
 5 Whoever mocks the poor g insults his Maker;
he who is h glad at calamity will not go i unpunished.
 6  j Grandchildren are k the crown of the aged,
and the glory of children is their fathers.
 7 Fine speech is not l becoming to a fool;
still less is m false speech to a prince.
 8  n A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;
wherever he turns he prospers.
 9 Whoever o covers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter p separates close friends.
 10 A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
than a hundred blows into a fool.
 11 An evil man seeks only rebellion,
and q a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
 12 Let a man meet r a she-bear robbed of her cubs
s rather than a fool in his folly.
 13 If anyone t returns evil for good,
u evil will not depart from his house.
 14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
so v quit before the quarrel breaks out.
 15 He who w justifies the wicked and he who x condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the  Lord.
 16 Why should a fool have money in his hand y to buy wisdom
when he has no sense?
 17  z A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
 18 One who lacks sense gives a pledge
and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
 19 Whoever loves transgression loves strife;
he who aa makes his door high seeks destruction.
 20  ab A man of crooked heart does not discover good,
and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
 21 He who ac sires a fool gets himself sorrow,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
 22  ad A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit ae dries up the bones.
 23 The wicked accepts af a bribe in secret ▼
▼ Hebrew  a bribe from the bosom

to ah pervert the ways of justice.
 24  ai The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
 25  aj A foolish son is a grief to his father
ak and bitterness to al her who bore him.
 26  am To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
 27 Whoever an restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
 28 Even a fool ao who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
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