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The Need for Prudence

15 My child, add no reproach to your charity,[a]
    or spoil any gift by harsh words.
16 Does not the dew give relief from the scorching heat?
    So a word can be better than a gift.
17 Indeed does not a word count more than a good gift?
    But both are offered by a kind person.
18 The fool is ungracious and abusive,
    and a grudging gift makes the eyes smart.(A)

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Footnotes

  1. 18:15–27 The practice of charity, especially almsgiving, is an art which avoids every offense to another (vv. 15–18). Prudence directs the changing circumstances of daily life in view of the time of scrutiny (i.e., the day of reckoning, or death, v. 24).