Proverb 17

Proverbs 17 (Amplified Bible)

Proverbs 17

 ¹BETTER IS a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting [on offered sacrifices] with strife.     ²A wise servant shall have rule over a son who causes shame, and shall share in the inheritance among the brothers.
    ³The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the hearts.^{(A)
    4}An evildoer gives heed to wicked lips; and a liar listens to a mischievous tongue.
    ⁵Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker, and he who is glad at calamity shall not be held innocent or go unpunished.^{(B)
    6}Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their fathers.^{(C)
    7}Fine or arrogant speech does not befit [an empty-headed] fool--much less do lying lips befit a prince.
    ⁸A bribe is like a bright, precious stone that dazzles the eyes and affects the mind of him who gives it; [as if by magic] he prospers, whichever way he turns.
    ⁹He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends.
    ¹⁰A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes into a [self-confident] fool.^{(D)
    11}An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a stern and pitiless messenger shall be sent against him.
    ¹²Let [the brute ferocity of] a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather than a [self-confident] fool in his folly [when he is in a rage].^{(E)
    13}Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.^{(F)
    14}The beginning of strife is as when water first trickles [from a crack in a dam]; therefore stop contention before it becomes worse and quarreling breaks out.
    ¹⁵He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both an abomination [exceedingly disgusting and hateful] to the Lord.^{(G)
    16}Of what use is money in the hand of a [self-confident] fool to buy skillful and godly Wisdom--when he has no understanding or heart for it?
    ¹⁷A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.
    ¹⁸A man void of good sense gives a pledge and becomes security for another in the presence of his neighbor.
    ¹⁹He who loves strife and is quarrelsome loves transgression and involves himself in guilt; he who raises high his gateway and is boastful and arrogant invites destruction.
    ²⁰He who has a wayward and crooked mind finds no good, and he who has a willful and contrary tongue will fall into calamity.^{(H)
    21}He who becomes the parent of a [self-confident] fool does it to his sorrow, and the father of [an empty-headed] fool has no joy [in him].
    ²²A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.^{(I)
    23}A wicked man receives a bribe out of the bosom (pocket) to pervert the ways of justice.
    ²⁴A man of understanding sets skillful and godly Wisdom before his face, but the eyes of a [self-confident] fool are on the ends of the earth.
    ²⁵A self-confident and foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
    ²⁶Also, to punish or fine the righteous is not good, nor to smite the noble for their uprightness.
    ²⁷He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding has a cool spirit.^{(J)
    28}Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding.