Proverbs 17
17
1 # ch. 15:17 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting#17:1 Hebrew sacrifices with strife.
2A servant who deals wisely will rule over #ver. 21, 25; ch. 10:5; 19:26 a son who acts shamefully
and #[2 Sam. 16:4]will share the inheritance as one of the brothers.
3 # ch. 27:21 The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
#
1 Chr. 29:17; Ps. 26:2; Jer. 17:10; Mal. 3:3 and the Lord tests hearts.
4An evildoer listens to wicked lips,
and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
5Whoever mocks the poor #ch. 14:31; [Matt. 25:40, 45] insults his Maker;
he who is #Job 31:29; Obad. 12; [ch. 24:17] glad at calamity will not go #ch. 16:5unpunished.
6 #
Ps. 128:6; [Ps. 127:3, 4] Grandchildren are #ch. 16:31the crown of the aged,
and the glory of children is their fathers.
7Fine speech is not #[ch. 19:10; 26:1] becoming to a fool;
still less is #ch. 6:17false speech to a prince.
8 # ver. 23; ch. 18:16; 19:6; 21:14; [Ex. 23:8; Isa. 1:23; Amos 5:12] A bribe is like a magic#17:8 Or precious stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;
wherever he turns he prospers.
9Whoever #ch. 10:12 covers an offense seeks love,
but he who repeats a matter #ch. 16:28separates close friends.
10A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding
than a hundred blows into a fool.
11An evil man seeks only rebellion,
and #[1 Kgs. 2:29]a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12Let a man meet #2 Sam. 17:8; Hos. 13:8 a she-bear robbed of her cubs
# [ch. 27:3] rather than a fool in his folly.
13If anyone #Ps. 35:12; 109:4, 5; [ch. 20:22; Matt. 5:39] returns evil for good,
# [2 Sam. 12:10] evil will not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is like letting out water,
so #ch. 20:3; 25:8quit before the quarrel breaks out.
15He who #ch. 24:24; Ex. 23:7; Isa. 5:23 justifies the wicked and he who #Job 34:17; Ps. 94:21; [ver. 26; ch. 18:5]condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
16Why should a fool have money in his hand #[ch. 23:23]to buy wisdom
when he has no sense?
17 # ch. 18:24; 27:10; [Ruth 1:16; Job 6:14] A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
18One who lacks sense gives a pledge
and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
19Whoever loves transgression loves strife;
he who #[ch. 11:2; 29:23]makes his door high seeks destruction.
20 # [ch. 11:20] A man of crooked heart does not discover good,
and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
21He who #ch. 10:1; 19:13sires a fool gets himself sorrow,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 # See ch. 15:13 A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit #Ps. 22:15; [ch. 12:25]dries up the bones.
23The wicked accepts #See ver. 8 a bribe in secret#17:23 Hebrew a bribe from the bosom
to #[Mic. 3:11; 7:3]pervert the ways of justice.
24 # [ch. 14:6; 15:14; Eccles. 2:14]; See Deut. 30:11-14 The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 # [See ver. 21 above] A foolish son is a grief to his father
# ch. 10:1 and bitterness to #ch. 23:25her who bore him.
26 # [ver. 15] To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
27Whoever #ch. 10:19; [James 1:19]restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28Even a fool #Job 13:5who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
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