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17:1  Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than have a banquet in a house full of trouble.
17:2  A shrewd servant will gain authority over a master's worthless son and receive a part of the inheritance.
17:3  Gold and silver are tested by fire, and a person's heart is tested by the Lord.
17:4  Evil people listen to evil ideas, and liars listen to lies.
17:5  If you make fun of poor people, you insult the God who made them. You will be punished if you take pleasure in someone's misfortune.
17:6  Grandparents are proud of their grandchildren, just as children are proud of their parents.
17:7  Respected people do not tell lies, and fools have nothing worthwhile to say.
17:8  Some people think a bribe works like magic; they believe it can do anything.
17:9  If you want people to like you, forgive them when they wrong you. Remembering wrongs can break up a friendship.
17:10  An intelligent person learns more from one rebuke than a fool learns from being beaten a hundred times.
17:11  Death will come like a cruel messenger to wicked people who are always stirring up trouble.
17:12  It is better to meet a mother bear robbed of her cubs than to meet some fool busy with a stupid project.
17:13  If you repay good with evil, you will never get evil out of your house.
17:14  The start of an argument is like the first break in a dam; stop it before it goes any further.
17:15  Condemning the innocent or letting the wicked go—both are hateful to the Lord.
17:16  It does a fool no good to spend money on an education, because he has no common sense.
17:17  Friends always show their love. What are relatives for if not to share trouble?
17:18  Only someone with no sense would promise to be responsible for someone else's debts.
17:19  To like sin is to like making trouble. If you brag all the time, you are asking for trouble.
17:20  Anyone who thinks and speaks evil can expect to find nothing good—only disaster.
17:21  There is nothing but sadness and sorrow for parents whose children do foolish things.
17:22  Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.
17:23  Corrupt judges accept secret bribes, and then justice is not done.
17:24  An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.
17:25  Foolish children bring grief to their fathers and bitter regrets to their mothers.
17:26  It is not right to make an innocent person pay a fine; justice is perverted when good people are punished.
17:27  Those who are sure of themselves do not talk all the time. People who stay calm have real insight.
17:28  After all, even fools may be thought wise and intelligent if they stay quiet and keep their mouths shut.