² God delights in concealing things;
    scientists delight in discovering things.

³ Like the horizons for breadth and the ocean for depth,
    the understanding of a good leader is broad and deep.

^4-5 Remove impurities from the silver
    and the silversmith can craft a fine chalice;
Remove the wicked from leadership
    and authority will be credible and God-honoring.

^6-7 Don’t work yourself into the spotlight;
    don’t push your way into the place of prominence.
It’s better to be promoted to a place of honor
    than face humiliation by being demoted.

⁸ Don’t jump to conclusions—there may be
    a perfectly good explanation for what you just saw.

^9-10 In the heat of an argument,
    don’t betray confidences;
Word is sure to get around,
    and no one will trust you.

^11-12 The right word at the right time
    is like a custom-made piece of jewelry,
And a wise friend’s timely reprimand
    is like a gold ring slipped on your finger.

¹³ Reliable friends who do what they say
    are like cool drinks in sweltering heat—refreshing!

¹⁴ Like billowing clouds that bring no rain
    is the person who talks big but never produces.

¹⁵ Patient persistence pierces through indifference;
    gentle speech breaks down rigid defenses.

¹⁸ Anyone who tells lies against the neighbors
    in court or on the street is a loose cannon.

¹⁹ Trusting a double-crosser when you’re in trouble
    is like biting down on an abscessed tooth.

²⁰ Singing light songs to the heavyhearted
    is like pouring salt in their wounds.

^21-22 If you see your enemy hungry, go buy him lunch;
    if he’s thirsty, bring him a drink.
Your generosity will surprise him with goodness,
    and God will look after you.

²³ A north wind brings stormy weather,
    and a gossipy tongue stormy looks.

²⁴ Better to live alone in a tumbledown shack
    than share a mansion with a nagging spouse.

²⁵ Like a cool drink of water when you’re worn out and weary
    is a letter from a long-lost friend.

²⁶ A good person who gives in to a bad person
    is a muddied spring, a polluted well.

²⁷ It’s not smart to stuff yourself with sweets,
    nor is glory piled on glory good for you.

²⁸ A person without self-control
    is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.

² You have as little to fear from an undeserved curse
    as from the dart of a wren or the swoop of a swallow.

³ A whip for the racehorse, a tiller for the sailboat—
    and a stick for the back of fools!

⁴ Don’t respond to the stupidity of a fool;
    you’ll only look foolish yourself.

⁵ Answer a fool in simple terms
    so he doesn’t get a swelled head.

⁶ You’re only asking for trouble
    when you send a message by a fool.

⁷ A proverb quoted by fools
    is limp as a wet noodle.

⁸ Putting a fool in a place of honor
    is like setting a mud brick on a marble column.

⁹ To ask a moron to quote a proverb
    is like putting a scalpel in the hands of a drunk.

¹⁰ Hire a fool or a drunk
    and you shoot yourself in the foot.

¹¹ As a dog eats its own vomit,
    so fools recycle silliness.

¹² See that man who thinks he’s so smart?
    You can expect far more from a fool than from him.

¹³ Loafers say, “It’s dangerous out there!
    Tigers are prowling the streets!”
    and then pull the covers back over their heads.

¹⁴ Just as a door turns on its hinges,
    so a lazybones turns back over in bed.

¹⁵ A shiftless sluggard puts his fork in the pie,
    but is too lazy to lift it to his mouth.

¹⁷ You grab a mad dog by the ears
    when you butt into a quarrel that’s none of your business.

^18-19 People who shrug off deliberate deceptions,
    saying, “I didn’t mean it, I was only joking,”
Are worse than careless campers
    who walk away from smoldering campfires.

²⁰ When you run out of wood, the fire goes out;
    when the gossip ends, the quarrel dies down.

²¹ A quarrelsome person in a dispute
    is like kerosene thrown on a fire.

²² Listening to gossip is like eating cheap candy;
    do you want junk like that in your belly?

²³ Smooth talk from an evil heart
    is like glaze on cracked pottery.

^24-26 Your enemy shakes hands and greets you like an old friend,
    all the while plotting against you.
When he speaks warmly to you, don’t believe him for a minute;
    he’s just waiting for the chance to rip you off.
No matter how shrewdly he conceals his malice,
    eventually his evil will be exposed in public.

²⁷ Malice backfires;
    spite boomerangs.

²⁸ Liars hate their victims;
    flatterers sabotage trust.