The Lord Tests Hearts
Than a house full of [a]feasting with strife.
And will share an inheritance among the brothers.
But the Lord tests the hearts.
A liar listens eagerly to a [b]spiteful tongue.
He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
And the glory of children is their father.
Much less lying lips to a prince.
Wherever he turns, he prospers.
But he who repeats a matter separates friends.
Than a hundred blows on a fool.
Therefore a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
Rather than a fool in his folly.
Evil will not depart from his house.
Therefore stop contention before a quarrel starts.
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.
Since he has no heart for it?
And a brother is born for adversity.
And becomes [e]surety for his friend.
And he who exalts his gate seeks destruction.
And he who has a perverse tongue falls into evil.
And the father of a fool has no joy.
But a broken spirit dries the bones.
To pervert the ways of justice.
But the eyes of a fool are on the ends of the earth.
And bitterness to her who bore him.
Nor to strike princes for their uprightness.
And a man of understanding is of a calm spirit.
28 Even a fool is counted wise when he holds his peace;
When he shuts his lips, he is considered perceptive.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 17:1 Or sacrificial meals
- Proverbs 17:4 Lit. destructive
- Proverbs 17:18 Lit. heart
- Proverbs 17:18 Lit. strikes the hands
- Proverbs 17:18 guaranty or collateral
- Proverbs 17:20 crooked
- Proverbs 17:22 Or makes medicine even better
- Proverbs 17:23 Under cover, lit. from the bosom