Proverbs 17  Lexham English Bible

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