Proverbs 17:15-28 English Standard Version
15 He who (A)justifies the wicked and he who (B)condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
16 Why should a fool have money in his hand (C)to buy wisdom
when he has no sense?
17 (D)A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
18 One who lacks sense gives a pledge
and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
19 Whoever loves transgression loves strife;
he who (E)makes his door high seeks destruction.
20 (F)A man of crooked heart does not discover good,
and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.
21 He who (G)sires a fool gets himself sorrow,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 (H)A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit (I)dries up the bones.
23 The wicked accepts (J)a bribe in secret[a]
to (K)pervert the ways of justice.
24 (L)The discerning sets his face toward wisdom,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
25 (M)A foolish son is a grief to his father
(N)and bitterness to (O)her who bore him.
26 (P)To impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,
nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.
27 Whoever (Q)restrains his words has knowledge,
and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
28 Even a fool (R)who keeps silent is considered wise;
when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:23 Hebrew a bribe from the bosom
Cross references
- Proverbs 17:15 : ch. 24:24; Ex. 23:7; Isa. 5:23
- Proverbs 17:15 : Job 34:17; Ps. 94:21; [ver. 26; ch. 18:5]
- Proverbs 17:16 : [ch. 23:23]
- Proverbs 17:17 : ch. 18:24; 27:10; [Ruth 1:16; Job 6:14]
- Proverbs 17:19 : [ch. 11:2; 29:23]
- Proverbs 17:20 : [ch. 11:20]
- Proverbs 17:21 : ch. 10:1; 19:13
- Proverbs 17:22 : See ch. 15:13
- Proverbs 17:22 : Ps. 22:15; [ch. 12:25]
- Proverbs 17:23 : See ver. 8
- Proverbs 17:23 : [Mic. 3:11; 7:3]
- Proverbs 17:24 : [ch. 14:6; 15:14; Eccles. 2:14]; See Deut. 30:11-14
- Proverbs 17:25 : [See ver. 21 above]; ch. 10:1; 19:13
- Proverbs 17:25 : ch. 10:1
- Proverbs 17:25 : ch. 23:25
- Proverbs 17:26 : [ver. 15]
- Proverbs 17:27 : ch. 10:19; [James 1:19]
- Proverbs 17:28 : Job 13:5
The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. ESV Text Edition: 2025.
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