Proverbs 17

1. Better is a dry piece of bread, and quietness with it, than a house full of sacrifices with fighting.

2. A wise servant shall have rule over a son who causes shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.

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, and a liar gives ear to an evil tongue.

5. Whoever scorns the poor reviles his Maker; he who is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

6. Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children are their fathers.

7. Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool; much less are lying lips fitting for a prince.

8. A gift is like a precious stone in the eyes of him who has it; wherever he turns, he prospers.

9. He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter alienates friends.

10. A reproof enters more into a wise man than a hundred stripes into a fool.

11. An evil one seeks only rebellion; therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

12. Let a man meet a bear robbed of her cubs, 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 drop the dispute before a quarrel breaks out.

15. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the just, even both of them are an abomination 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 adversity.

18. A man void of understanding shakes hands in a pledge; he becomes surety in the presence of his friend.

19. He who loves transgression loves strife; he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.

20. He who has a perverse heart finds no good, and he who has a perverse tongue falls into mischief.

21. He who begets a fool does it to his 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 justice.

24. Wisdom is before him who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

25. A foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.

26. It is not good to punish the righteous, nor to strike princes for their uprightness.

27. He who has knowledge uses few words; a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

28. Even a fool, when he is silent, is counted wise, and he who shuts his lips is counted as a man of understanding.