1
1Better is a dry morsel with quiet than a house full of feasting with strife.
2
A servant who deals wisely will rule over
2a son who acts shamefully and
3will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
3
4The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
5and 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
6insults his Maker; he who is
7glad at calamity will not go
8unpunished.
6
9Grandchildren are
10the crown of the aged, and the glory of children is their fathers.
7
Fine speech is not
11becoming to a fool; still less is
12false speech to a prince.
8
13A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it; wherever he turns he prospers.
9
Whoever
14covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter
15separates 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
16a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12
Let a man meet
17a she-bear robbed of her cubs
18rather than a fool in his folly.
13
If anyone
19returns evil for good,
20evil will not depart from his house.
14
The beginning of strife is like letting out water, so
21quit before the quarrel breaks out.
15
He who
22justifies the wicked and he who
23condemns the righteous are both alike an abomination to the LORD.
16
Why should a fool have money in his hand
24to buy wisdom when he has no sense?
17
25A 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
26makes his door high seeks destruction.
20
27A man of crooked heart does not discover good, and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
21
He who
28sires a fool gets himself sorrow, and the father of a fool has no joy.
22
29A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit
30dries up the bones.
23
The wicked accepts
31a bribe in secret to
32pervert the ways of justice.
24
33The discerning sets his face toward wisdom, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25
34A foolish son is a grief to his father
35and bitterness to
36her who bore him.
26
37To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good, nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
27
Whoever
38restrains his words has knowledge, and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28
Even a fool
39who keeps silent is considered wise; when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.