Proverbs 17:7-26

⁷Faithful lips will not suit a fool; Nor lying lips a just man.

⁸Instruction is to them that use it a gracious reward: And whithersoever it may turn, it shall prosper.

⁹He that conceals injuries seeks love; But he that hates to hide them separates friends and kindred.

¹⁰A threat breaks down the heart of a wise man; But a fool, though scourged, understands not.

¹¹Every bad man stirs up strifes: But the Lord will send out against him an unmerciful messenger.

¹²Care may befall a man of understanding; But fools will meditate evils.

¹³Whoso rewards evil for good, Evil shall not be removed from his house.

¹⁴Rightful rule gives power to words; But sedition and strife precede poverty.

¹⁵He that pronounces the unjust just, and the just unjust, Is unclean and abominable with God.

¹⁶Why has the fool wealth? For a senseless man will not be able to purchase wisdom.

^16aHe that exalts his own house seeks ruin; And he that turns aside from instruction shall fall into mischiefs.

¹⁷Have thou a friend for every time, And let brethren be useful in distress; For on this account are they born.

¹⁸A foolish man applauds and rejoices over himself, As he also that becomes surety would make himself responsible for his own friends.

¹⁹A lover of sin rejoices in strifes;

²⁰And the hard-hearted man comes not in for good. A man of a changeful tongue will fall into mischiefs;

²¹And the heart of a fool is grief to its possessor. A father rejoices not over an uninstructed son; But a wise son gladdens his mother.

²²A glad heart promotes health; But the bones of a sorrowful man dry up.

²³The ways of a man who unjustly receives gifts in his bosom do not prosper; And an ungodly man perverts the ways of righteousness.

²⁴The countenance of a wise man is sensible; But the eyes of a fool go to the ends of the earth.

²⁵A foolish son is a cause of anger to his father, And grief to her that bore him.

²⁶It is not right to punish a righteous man, Nor is it holy to plot against righteous princes.