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.
¹⁸ One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge
and puts up security for a neighbor.
¹⁹ Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin;
whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.
²⁰ One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper;
one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.
²¹ To have a fool for a child brings grief;
there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.
²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
²³ The wicked accept bribes in secret
to pervert the course of justice.
²⁴ A discerning person keeps wisdom in view,
but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.
²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father
and bitterness to the mother who bore him.
²⁶ If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good,
surely to flog honest officials is not right.
²⁷ The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,
and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.
²⁸ Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
and discerning if they hold their tongues.