Proverbs 17-20

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Proverbs 17

Better is a dry morsel, and quietness with it,

Than a house full of feasting with strife.

2 A servant that deals wisely shall have rule over a son that causes shame,

And shall have part in the inheritance among the brethren.

3 The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold;

But Yahweh tries the hearts.

4 An evil-doer gives heed to wicked lips;

And a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

5 Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker;

And he that is glad at calamity 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 becomes not a fool;

Much less do lying lips a prince.

8 A bribe is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that has it;

Wherever it turns, it prospers.

9 He that covers a transgression seeks love;

But he that harps on a matter separates chief friends.

10 A rebuke enters deeper into one that has understanding

Than a hundred stripes into a fool.

11 An evil man seeks only rebellion;

Therefore a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

12 Let a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man,

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 as when one lets out water:

Therefore leave off contention, before there is quarrelling.

15 He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the righteous,

Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.

16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to buy wisdom,

Since he has no understanding?

17 A friend loves at all times;

And a brother is born for adversity.

18 A man void of understanding strikes hands,

And becomes surety in the presence of his neighbor.

19 He loves transgression who loves strife:

He who raises high his gate seeks destruction.

20 He who has a wayward heart finds no good;

And he who has a perverse tongue falls into mischief.

21 He that fathers a fool does it to his sorrow;

And the father of a fool has no joy.

22 A cheerful heart is a good medicine;

But a broken spirit dries up the bones.

23 A wicked man receives a bribe out of the bosom.

To pervert the ways of justice.

24 Wisdom is before the face of him that has understanding;

But the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.

25 A foolish son is a grief to his father,

And bitterness to her that bore him.

26 Also to punish the righteous is not good,

Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

27 He that spares his words has knowledge;

And he that is of a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

28 Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise;

When he shuts his lips, he is esteemed as prudent.

 

 

Proverbs 18

He that separates himself seeks his own desire,

And rages against all sound wisdom.

2 A fool has no delight in understanding,

But only that his heart may reveal itself.

3 When the wicked comes, there comes also contempt,

And with ignominy comes reproach.

4 The words of a man’s mouth are as deep waters;

The wellspring of wisdom is as a flowing brook.

5 To respect the person of the wicked is not good,

Nor to turn aside the righteous in judgment.

6 A fool’s lips enter into contention,

And his mouth called for stripes.

7 A fool’s mouth is his destruction,

And his lips are the snare of his soul.

8 The words of a whisperer are as dainty morsels,

And they go down into the innermost parts.

9 He also that is slack in his work

Is brother to him that is a destroyer.

10 The name of Yahweh is a strong tower;

The righteous runs into it, and is safe.

11 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city,

And as a high wall in his own imagination.

12 Before destruction the heart of man is haughty;

And before honor goes humility.

13 He that gives answer before he hears,

It is folly and shame to him.

14 The spirit of a man will sustain his infirmity;

But a broken spirit who can bear?

15 The heart of the prudent gets knowledge;

And the ear of the wise seeks knowledge.

16 A man’s gift makes room for him,

And brings him before great men.

17 He that pleads his cause first seems just;

But his neighbor comes and searches him out.

18 The lot causes contentions to cease.

And parts between the mighty.

19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city;

And such contentions are like the bars of a castle.

20 A man’s belly shall be filled with the fruit of his mouth:

With the increase of his lips shall he be satisfied.

21 Death and life are in the power of the tongue;

And they that love it shall eat the fruit of it.

22 Whoever finds a wife finds a good thing,

And obtains favor of Yahweh.

23 The poor uses entreaties;

But the rich answer roughly.

24 He that makes many friends does it to his own destruction;

But there is a friend that sticks closer than a brother.

 

 

Proverbs 19

Better is the poor that walks in his integrity

Than he that is perverse in his lips and is a fool.

2 Also, that the soul be without knowledge is not good;

And he that hurries with his feet sins.

3 The foolishness of man subverts his way;

And his heart frets against Yahweh.

4 Wealth adds many friends;

But the poor is separated from his friend.

5 A false witness shall not be unpunished;

And he that utters lies shall not escape.

6 Many will entreat the favor of the liberal man;

And every man is a friend to him that gives gifts.

7 All the brethren of the poor hate him:

How much more do his friends go far from him!

He pursues them with words, but they are gone.

8 He that gets wisdom loves his own soul:

He that keeps understanding shall find good.

9 A false witness shall not be unpunished;

And he that utters lies shall perish.

10 Delicate living is not seemly for a fool;

Much less for a servant to have rule over princes.

11 The discretion of a man makes him slow to anger;

And it is his glory to pass over a transgression.

12 The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion;

But his favor is as dew upon the grass.

13 A foolish son is the calamity of his father;

And the contentions of a wife are a continual dropping.

14 House and riches are an inheritance from fathers;

But a prudent wife is from Yahweh.

15 Slothfulness casts into a deep sleep;

And the idle soul shall suffer hunger.

16 He that keeps the commandment keeps his soul;

But he that is careless of his ways shall die.

17 He that has pity upon the poor lends to Yahweh.

And his good deed will he pay him again.

18 Chasten your son, seeing there is hope;

And set not your heart on his destruction.

19 A man of great wrath shall bear the penalty;

For if you deliver him, you must do it yet again.

20 Hear counsel, and receive instruction,

That you may be wise in your latter end.

21 There are many devices in a man’s heart;

But the counsel of Yahweh, that shall stand.

22 That which makes a man to be desired is his kindness;

And a poor man is better than a liar.

23 The fear of Yahweh tends to life;

And he that has it shall remain satisfied;

He shall not be visited with evil.

24 The sluggard buries his hand in the dish,

And will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

25 Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence;

And reprove one that has understanding, and he will understand knowledge.

26 He that does violence to his father, and chases away his mother,

Is a son that causes shame and brings reproach.

27 Cease, my son, to hear instruction

Only to err from the words of knowledge.

28 A worthless witness mocks at justice;

And the mouth of the wicked swallows iniquity.

29 Judgments are prepared for scoffers,

And stripes for the back of fools.

 

 

Proverbs 20

Wine is a mocker, strong drink a brawler;

And whoever errs by them is not wise.

2 The terror of a king is as the roaring of a lion:

He that provokes him to anger sins against his own life.

3 It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife;

But every fool will be quarrelling.

4 The sluggard will not plow by reason of the winter;

Therefore he shall beg in harvest, and have nothing.

5 Counsel in the heart of man is like deep water;

But a man of understanding will draw it out.

6 Most men will proclaim every one his own kindness;

But a faithful man who can find?

7 A righteous man that walks in his integrity,

Blessed are his children after him.

8 A king that sits on the throne of judgment

Scatters away all evil with his eyes.

9 Who can say, I have made my heart clean,

I am pure from my sin?

10 Diverse weights, and diverse measures,

Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.

11 Even a child makes himself known by his doings,

Whether his work is pure, and whether it is right.

12 The hearing ear, and the seeing eye,

Yahweh has made even both of them.

13 Love not sleep, lest you come to poverty;

Open your eyes, and you shall be satisfied with bread.

14 It is worthless, it is worthless, says the buyer;

But when he has gone his way, then he boasts.

15 There is gold, and abundance of rubies;

But the lips of knowledge are a precious jewel.

16 Take his garment that is surety for a stranger;

And hold him in pledge that is surety for foreigners.

17 Bread of falsehood is sweet to a man;

But afterwards his mouth shall be filled with gravel.

18 Every purpose is established by counsel;

And by wise guidance make war.

19 He who goes about as a tale-bearer reveals secrets;

Therefore company not with him who opens wide his lips.

20 Whoever curses his father or his mother,

His lamp shall be put out in blackness of darkness.

21 An inheritance may be gotten hastily at the beginning;

But the end of it shall not be blessed.

22 Say not, I will recompense evil:

Wait for Yahweh, and he will save you.

23 Diverse weights are an abomination to Yahweh;

And a false balance is not good.

24 A man’s goings are of Yahweh;

How then can man understand his way?

25 It is a snare to man rashly to say, It is holy,

And after vows to make inquiry.

26 A wise king scatters the wicked

And brings the threshing-wheel over them.

27 The spirit of man is the lamp of Yahweh,

Searching all his innermost parts.

28 Kindness and truth preserve the king;

And his throne is upheld by kindness.

29 The glory of young men is their strength;

And the beauty of old men is the gray head.

30 Stripes that wound cleanse away evil;

And strokes reach the innermost parts.

 

 

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