Proverbs 17:1-17

1 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife.

2 A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

3 The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tests the heart.

4 A wicked person listens to deceitful lips; a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

5 Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

6 Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children.

7 Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

8 A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it; they think success will come at every turn.

9 Whoever would foster love covers over an offense, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

10 A rebuke impresses a discerning person more than a hundred lashes a fool.

11 Evildoers foster rebellion against God; the messenger of death will be sent against them.

12 Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool bent on folly.

13 Evil will never leave the house of one who pays back evil for good.

14 Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the LORD detests them both.

16 Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom, when they are not able to understand it?

17 A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

Proverbs 17:1-17 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 7

This chapter gives an account of some buildings of Solomon for himself, 1Ki 7:1-12; and of other things for the use of the temple; of two pillars of brass, 1Ki 7:13-22; of the molten sea, 1Ki 7:23-26; and of ten bases, and ten layers on them, 1Ki 7:27-39; with other utensils and ornaments, 1Ki 7:40-51.

Cross References

• 1. S Proverbs 15:16,17; S Proverbs 16:8
• 2. Proverbs 27:21
• 3. S 1 Chronicles 29:17; Psalms 26:2; S Psalms 139:23; 1 Peter 1:7; Jeremiah 17:10
• 4. S Job 5:16
• 5. Proverbs 14:31
• 6. S Job 31:29
• 7. Ezekiel 25:3; Obadiah 1:12
• 8. S Psalms 128:5-6; Proverbs 13:22
• 9. Proverbs 16:10
• 10. S Exodus 23:8; Proverbs 19:6
• 11. S Proverbs 10:12
• 12. Proverbs 16:28
• 13. S 1 Samuel 25:25
• 14. S 1 Samuel 19:4; Psalms 109:4-5; Jeremiah 18:20
• 15. S Genesis 44:4; S Psalms 35:12
• 16. Matthew 5:25-26; Proverbs 20:3
• 17. S Psalms 94:21; S Proverbs 18:5
• 18. Exodus 23:6-7; Isaiah 5:23; Lamentations 3:34-36
• 19. Proverbs 23:23
• 20. S 2 Samuel 15:21; Proverbs 27:10