Proverbs 21:1-16

¹The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of Yahweh; he turns it wherever he pleases.

²Every person's way is right in his own eyes, but it is Yahweh who weighs the hearts.

³To do what is right and just is more acceptable to Yahweh than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the lamp of the wicked—are sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent lead only to prosperity, but everyone who acts too quickly comes only to poverty.

⁶Acquiring riches by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare that kills.

⁷The violence of the wicked will drag them away, for they refuse to do what is just.

⁸The way of a guilty person is crooked, but the one who is pure does what is right.

⁹It is better to live on a corner of the roof than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁰The appetite of the wicked craves evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

¹¹When the mocker is punished, the naive become wise, and when the wise person is instructed, he lays hold of knowledge.

¹²The righteous person watches the house of the wicked person; he brings wicked people to disaster.

¹³The one who shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he also will cry out, but he will not be answered.

¹⁴A gift in secret appeases anger and a concealed gift appeases strong wrath.

¹⁵When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous person, but it brings terror to evildoers.

¹⁶The one who wanders from the way of understanding, he will rest in the assembly of the dead.