¹mBetter is a dry morsel with quiet

than a house full of feasting1 with strife.

²A servant who deals wisely will rule over na son who acts shamefully

and owill share the inheritance as one of the brothers.

³pThe crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,

qand the Lord tests hearts.

⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips,

and a liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.

⁵Whoever mocks the poor rinsults his Maker;

he who is sglad at calamity will not go tunpunished.

⁶uGrandchildren are vthe crown of the aged,

and the glory of children is their fathers.

⁷Fine speech is not wbecoming to a fool;

still less is xfalse speech to a prince.

⁸yA bribe is like a magic2 stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;

wherever he turns he prospers.

⁹Whoever zcovers an offense seeks love,

but he who repeats a matter aseparates close friends.

¹⁰A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understanding

than a hundred blows into a fool.

¹¹An evil man seeks only rebellion,

and ba cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹²Let a man meet ca she-bear robbed of her cubs

drather than a fool in his folly.

¹³If anyone ereturns evil for good,

fevil will not depart from his house.

¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water,

so gquit before the quarrel breaks out.

¹⁵He who hjustifies the wicked and he who icondemns the righteous

are both alike an abomination to the Lord.

¹⁶Why should a fool have money in his hand jto buy wisdom

when he has no sense?

¹⁷kA friend loves at all times,

and a brother is born for adversity.

¹⁸One who lacks sense gives a pledge

and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.

¹⁹Whoever loves transgression loves strife;

he who lmakes his door high seeks destruction.

²⁰mA man of crooked heart does not discover good,

and one with a dishonest tongue falls into calamity.

²¹He who nsires a fool gets himself sorrow,

and the father of a fool has no joy.

²²oA joyful heart is good medicine,

but a crushed spirit pdries up the bones.

²³The wicked accepts qa bribe in secret3

to rpervert the ways of justice.

²⁴sThe discerning sets his face toward wisdom,

but the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.

²⁵nA foolish son is a grief to his father

tand bitterness to uher who bore him.

²⁶vTo impose a fine on a righteous man is not good,

nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

²⁷Whoever wrestrains his words has knowledge,

and he who has a cool spirit is a man of understanding.

²⁸Even a fool xwho keeps silent is considered wise;

when he closes his lips, he is deemed intelligent.