Add parallel Print Page Options

30 Don’t strive with a man without cause,
    if he has done you no harm.

Read full chapter

30 Don’t accuse anyone without cause,(A)
when he has done you no harm.

Read full chapter

12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but love covers all wrongs.

Read full chapter

12 Hatred stirs up conflicts,
but love covers all offenses.(A)

Read full chapter

10 Pride only breeds quarrels,
    but wisdom is with people who take advice.

Read full chapter

10 Arrogance leads to nothing but strife,(A)
but wisdom is gained by those who take advice.

Read full chapter

18 A wrathful man stirs up contention,
    but one who is slow to anger appeases strife.

Read full chapter

18 A hot-tempered person stirs up conflict,(A)
but one slow to anger(B) calms strife.

Read full chapter

28 A perverse man stirs up strife.
    A whisperer separates close friends.

Read full chapter

28 A contrary person spreads conflict,
and a gossip separates close friends.(A)

Read full chapter

14 The beginning of strife is like breaching a dam,
    therefore stop contention before quarreling breaks out.

Read full chapter

14 To start a conflict is to release a flood;
stop the dispute before it breaks out.(A)

Read full chapter

19 He who loves disobedience loves strife.
    One who builds a high gate seeks destruction.

Read full chapter

19 One who loves to offend loves strife;(A)
one who builds a high threshold invites injury.

Read full chapter

19 A brother offended is more difficult than a fortified city.
    Disputes are like the bars of a fortress.

Read full chapter

19 An offended brother is harder to reach[a]
than a fortified city,
and quarrels are like the bars of a fortress.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 18:19 LXX, Syr, Tg, Vg read is stronger

It is an honor for a man to keep aloof from strife,
    but every fool will be quarreling.

Read full chapter

Honor belongs to the person who ends a dispute,(A)
but any fool can get himself into a quarrel.(B)

Read full chapter

19 It is better to dwell in a desert land,
    than with a contentious and fretful woman.

Read full chapter

19 Better to live in a wilderness
than with a nagging and hot-tempered wife.(A)

Read full chapter

10 Drive out the mocker, and strife will go out;
    yes, quarrels and insults will stop.

Read full chapter

10 Drive out a mocker,(A) and conflict goes too;
then quarreling and dishonor will cease.(B)

Read full chapter

Don’t be hasty in bringing charges to court.
    What will you do in the end when your neighbor shames you?

Read full chapter

Don’t take a matter to court hastily.(A)
Otherwise, what will you do afterward
if your opponent[a] humiliates you?

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 25:8 Or neighbor, also in v. 9