18 The selfish man quarrels against every sound principle of conduct by demanding his own way.

² A rebel doesn’t care about the facts. All he wants to do is yell.^[a]

³ Sin brings disgrace.

⁴ A wise man’s words express deep streams of thought.

⁵ It is wrong for a judge to favor the wicked and condemn the innocent.

^6-7 A fool gets into constant fights. His mouth is his undoing! His words endanger him.

⁸ What dainty morsels rumors are. They are eaten with great relish!

⁹ A lazy man is brother to the saboteur.

¹⁰ The Lord^[b] is a strong fortress. The godly run to him and are safe.

¹¹ The rich man thinks of his wealth as an impregnable defense, a high wall of safety. What a dreamer!

¹² Pride ends in destruction; humility ends in honor.

¹³ What a shame—yes, how stupid!—to decide before knowing the facts!

¹⁴ A man’s courage^[c] can sustain his broken body, but when courage dies, what hope is left?

¹⁵ The intelligent man is always open to new ideas. In fact, he looks for them.

¹⁶ A gift does wonders; it will bring you before men of importance!

¹⁷ Any story sounds true until someone tells the other side and sets the record straight.

¹⁸ A coin toss^[d] ends arguments and settles disputes between powerful opponents.

¹⁹ It is harder to win back the friendship of an offended brother than to capture a fortified city.^[e] His anger shuts you out like iron bars.

²⁰ Ability to give wise advice satisfies like a good meal!

²¹ Those who love to talk will suffer the consequences. Men have died for saying the wrong thing!

²² The man who finds a wife finds a good thing; she is a blessing to him from the Lord.

²³ The poor man pleads, and the rich man answers with insults.

²⁴ There are “friends” who pretend to be friends, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.