Proverbs 17:7-15

⁷Fine words don't suit stupid people, how much less are lies suited to a ruler.

⁸Whoever gives a bribe thinks it's a magical stone—that wherever they turn they'll have success!

⁹If you forgive a wrong you encourage friendship, but if you keep talking about it you'll lose your friend.

¹⁰A reprimand hits a thinking person more than one hundred blows hit someone stupid.

¹¹Evil people are only looking to rebel, so a cruel messenger will be sent to attack them.

¹²Better to meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs than a stupid person and their foolishness.

¹³If you repay evil for good, evil will never leave your house.

¹⁴The beginning of a quarrel is like the first leak in a water dam, so drop it before a major argument bursts out.

¹⁵The Lord hates it when the wicked are acquitted and the innocent condemned.