Proverbs 17

New Revised Standard Version, Anglicised Catholic Edition

17 Better is a dry morsel with quiet
    than a house full of feasting with strife.
² A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully,
    and will share the inheritance as one of the family.
³ The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
    but the Lord tests the heart.
⁴ An evildoer listens to wicked lips;
    and a liar gives heed to a mischievous tongue.
⁵ Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;
    those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
⁶ Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,
    and the glory of children is their parents.
⁷ Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;
    still less is false speech to a ruler.^[a]
8 A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of those who give it;
    wherever they turn they prosper.
⁹ One who forgives an affront fosters friendship,
    but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.
¹⁰ A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person
    than a hundred blows into a fool.
¹¹ Evil people seek only rebellion,
    but a cruel messenger will be sent against them.
¹² Better to meet a she-bear robbed of its cubs
    than to confront a fool immersed in folly.
¹³ Evil will not depart from the house
    of one who returns evil for good.
¹⁴ The beginning of strife is like letting out water;
    so stop before the quarrel breaks out.
¹⁵ One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous
    are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
¹⁶ Why should fools have a price in hand
    to buy wisdom, when they have no mind to learn?
¹⁷ A friend loves at all times,
    and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.
¹⁸ It is senseless to give a pledge,
    to become surety for a neighbour.
¹⁹ One who loves transgression loves strife;
    one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones.
²⁰ The crooked of mind do not prosper,
    and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.
²¹ The one who begets a fool gets trouble;
    the parent of a fool has no joy.
²² A cheerful heart is a good medicine,
    but a downcast spirit dries up the bones.
²³ The wicked accept a concealed bribe
    to pervert the ways of justice.
²⁴ The discerning person looks to wisdom,
    but the eyes of a fool to the ends of the earth.
²⁵ Foolish children are a grief to their father
    and bitterness to her who bore them.
²⁶ To impose a fine on the innocent is not right,
    or to flog the noble for their integrity.
²⁷ One who spares words is knowledgeable;
    one who is cool in spirit has understanding.
²⁸ Even fools who keep silent are considered wise;
    when they close their lips, they are deemed intelligent.