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17Better is a dry morsel with quiet
than a house full of feasting with strife.
²A slave who deals wisely will rule over a child who acts shamefully,
and will share the inheritance as one of the family.
³The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold,
but the Lord tests the heart.
⁴An evildoer listens to wicked lips;
and a liar gives heed to a mischievous tongue.
⁵Those who mock the poor insult their Maker;
those who are glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
⁶Grandchildren are the crown of the aged,
and the glory of children is their parents.
⁷Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;
still less is false speech to a ruler.
⁸A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of those who give it;
wherever they turn they prosper.
⁹One who forgives an affront fosters friendship,
but one who dwells on disputes will alienate a friend.
¹⁰A rebuke strikes deeper into a discerning person
than a hundred blows into a fool.
¹¹Evil people seek only rebellion,
but a cruel messenger will be sent against them.
¹²Better to meet a she-bear robbed of its cubs
than to confront a fool immersed in folly.
¹³Evil will not depart from the house
of one who returns evil for good.
¹⁴The beginning of strife is like letting out water;
so stop before the quarrel breaks out.
¹⁵One who justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous
are both alike an abomination to the Lord.
¹⁶Why should fools have a price in hand
to buy wisdom, when they have no mind to learn?
¹⁷A friend loves at all times,
and kinsfolk are born to share adversity.
¹⁸It is senseless to give a pledge,
to become surety for a neighbor.
¹⁹One who loves transgression loves strife;
one who builds a high threshold invites broken bones.
²⁰The crooked of mind do not prosper,
and the perverse of tongue fall into calamity.