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Whoever overlooks an offense fosters friendship,
    but whoever gossips about it separates friends.[a]
10 A single reprimand does more for a discerning person
    than a hundred lashes for a fool.[b]
11 The wicked pursue only rebellion,
    and a merciless messenger is sent against them.[c]

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Footnotes

  1. 17:9 A paradox. One finds (love, friend) by concealing (an offense), one loses (a friend) by revealing (a secret). In 10:12 love also covers over a multitude of offenses.
  2. 17:10 A wonderful comment on the openness and sensitivity of the wise and the foolish. One type learns from a single word and for the other one hundred blows are not enough.
  3. 17:11 The irony is that such people will meet up with what they so energetically pursue—in the form of an unrelenting emissary sent to them.

Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,(A)
    but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.(B)

10 A rebuke impresses a discerning person
    more than a hundred lashes a fool.

11 Evildoers foster rebellion against God;
    the messenger of death will be sent against them.

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