Proverbs 17

Wisdom, Folly, and the Power of Words in Relationships

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1 Better is a dry morsel, and quietness therewith, than an house full of sacrifices with strife.
2 A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causes shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brothers.
3 The fining 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 a naughty tongue.
5 Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker: and he that 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 becomes not a fool: much less do lying lips a prince.
8 A gift 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 repeats a matter separates very friends.
10 A reproof enters more into a wise man than an 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 it be meddled with.
15 He that justifies the wicked, and he that condemns the just, even they both are abomination to the LORD.
16 Why is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he has no heart to it?
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 friend.
19 He loves transgression that loves strife: and he that exalts his gate seeks destruction.
20 He that has a fraudulent heart finds no good: and he that has a perverse tongue falls into mischief.
21 He that begets a fool does it to his sorrow: and 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 gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
24 Wisdom is before 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 just is not good, nor to strike princes for equity.
27 He that has knowledge spares his words: and a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.
28 Even a fool, when he holds his peace, is counted wise: and he that shuts his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.
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