Proverbs Chapter 17
1 Better is a dry piece of bread in quietness, than a house full of sacrifices with fighting.
2 A wise servant will have rule over a son who causes shame, and will have part of the inheritance among the brothers.
3 The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold. But the Lord tries the hearts.
4 A wicked doer gives heed to false lips. A liar gives ear to an evil tongue.
5 Whoever scorns the poor reviles his maker. Those who are glad at calamities will not be unpunished.
6 Children's children are the crown of old men and the glory of children are their fathers.
7 An excellent lip is not fitting for a fool. Much less are lying lips fitting for a prince.
8 A bribe is like a precious stone in the eyes of those who have it. They are prudent wherever they turn.
9 Those who cover a transgression seek love. But those who repeat a matter separate friends.
10 A reproof enters more into a wise man than a thousand stripes into a fool.
11 An evil one seeks only rebellion. So a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.
12 Let a bear robbed of her cubs meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.
13 Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
14 The beginning of strife is like letting out water. Therefore leave off fighting, before it breaks out.
15 Those who justify the wicked and those who condemn the just, both of them are hateful to the Lord.
16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, since he has no heart for it?
17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for the time of trouble.
18 A man lacking heart strikes hands. He pledges in the presence of his friend.
19 Those who love fighting love transgression. Those who make their gate high seek ruin.
20 Those who have a perverse heart find no good. And those who have a crooked tongue fall into mischief.
21 Those who father a fool do it to their sorrow. The father of a fool has no joy.
22 A merry heart does good like a medicine. But a broken spirit dries the bones.
23 A wicked man takes a bribe out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
24 Wisdom is before those who have understanding, But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
26 And it is not good to punish the just, nor to strike princes for uprightness.
27 Those who have knowledge use few words. A man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
28 Even a fool, when he is silent, is counted wise. Those who shut their lips are counted as having understanding.