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17:1  Better is a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting [on offered sacrifices] with strife.
17:2  A wise servant shall have rule over a son who causes shame, and shall share in the inheritance among the brothers.
17:3  The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the hearts.
17:4  An evildoer gives heed to wicked lips; and a liar listens to a mischievous tongue.
17:5  Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker, and he who is glad at calamity shall not be held innocent or go unpunished.
17:6  Children’s children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their fathers.
17:7  Fine or arrogant speech does not befit [an empty-headed] fool—much less do lying lips befit a prince.
17:8  A bribe is like a bright, precious stone that dazzles the eyes and affects the mind of him who gives it; [as if by magic] he prospers, whichever way he turns.
17:9  He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends.
17:10  A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes into a [self-confident] fool.
17:11  An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a stern and pitiless messenger shall be sent against him.
17:12  Let [the brute ferocity of] a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather than a [self-confident] fool in his folly [when he is in a rage].
17:13  Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.
17:14  The beginning of strife is as when water first trickles [from a crack in a dam]; therefore stop contention before it becomes worse and quarreling breaks out.
17:15  He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both an abomination [exceedingly disgusting and hateful] to the Lord.
17:16  Of what use is money in the hand of a [self-confident] fool to buy skillful and godly Wisdom—when he has no understanding or heart for it?
17:17  A friend loves at all times, and is born, as is a brother, for adversity.
17:18  A man void of good sense gives a pledge and becomes security for another in the presence of his neighbor.
17:19  He who loves strife and is quarrelsome loves transgression and involves himself in guilt; he who raises high his gateway and is boastful and arrogant invites destruction.
17:20  He who has a wayward and crooked mind finds no good, and he who has a willful and contrary tongue will fall into calamity.
17:21  He who becomes the parent of a [self-confident] fool does it to his sorrow, and the father of [an empty-headed] fool has no joy [in him].
17:22  A happy heart is good medicine and a cheerful mind works healing, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
17:23  A wicked man receives a bribe out of the bosom (pocket) to pervert the ways of justice.
17:24  A man of understanding sets skillful and godly Wisdom before his face, but the eyes of a [self-confident] fool are on the ends of the earth.
17:25  A self-confident and foolish son is a grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
17:26  Also, to punish or fine the righteous is not good, nor to smite the noble for their uprightness.
17:27  He who has knowledge spares his words, and a man of understanding has a cool spirit.
17:28  Even a fool when he holds his peace is considered wise; when he closes his lips he is esteemed a man of understanding.