17
📚Better is a dry crust,and quietness with it,
than a house full of feasting from
sacrifices 📖 with strife.
2 📚A wise servant will rule a son
who causes shame,
and will have part of the inheritance
among the brothers.
3 📚The refining pot is for silver
and the furnace for gold,
but the LORD tests the hearts.
17:3 Note at Ps 66:10-12. God’s purpose toward us is to make us pure, and His testing can be like fire (Isa 1:25; Mal 3:2-4).⚜
4 📚An evildoer pays heed to false lips,
and a liar listens
to a slandering tongue.
5 📚Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker 📖,
and he who is glad at calamities
will not be unpunished 📖.
6 📚Children’s children are the crown
of old men,
and the glory of children is their fathers.
7 📚Fine talk is not fitting for a fool;
much less are lying lips for a prince 📖.
8 📚A bribe 📖 is like a charm in the eyes
of the one who has it;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.
9 📚He who conceals 📖 a transgression seeks love 📖,
but he who repeats a matter separates 📖
close friends.
10 📚A rebuke goes more deeply into a wise man
than a hundred lashes into a fool.
11 📚An evil person seeks only rebellion;
therefore a cruel messenger will be sent
against him.
12 📚 Let a man meet a bear robbed
of her cubs
rather than a fool in his folly.
17:12 A fool is more dangerous than an enraged bear. A bear can only hurt people physically, but a fool can injure them in many ways.⚜
13 📚Whoever repays evil for good,
evil will not depart from his house.
17:13 1 Sam 19:4; Ps 35:12; 38:20; 109:5; Jer 18:20. Repaying evil for good is devilish. Repaying good for evil is divine and the only proper behavior for a Christian (Luke 6:27-31, 35, 36; Rom 12:21). So we know which of these wise people will practice.⚜
14 📚The beginning of strife is like
letting out water;
therefore break off before the quarrel begins.
17:14 Matt 5:25-26. Quarrels are much easier to start than to stop.⚜
15 📚He who justifies the wicked and he who
condemns the righteous,
both of these are an abomination
to the LORD.
16 📚Why is there a price in the hand
of a fool to get wisdom,
since he has no heart for it?
17:16 No matter how much money a fool has he is still a fool, so his money will be spent foolishly.⚜
17 📚A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for adversity.
18 📚A man lacking understanding strikes hands
in pledge, and puts up security
in the presence of his friend.
19 📚He who loves quarreling loves transgression 📖,
and he who exalts his gate 📖
seeks destruction.
20 📚He who has a crooked heart
finds no good,
and he who has a perverse tongue falls
into trouble.
21 📚He who begets a fool does so
to his sorrow,
and the father of a fool has no joy.
22 📚A merry heart does good like
a medicine;
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.
23 📚A wicked person accepts a bribe
from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice.
17:23 Verse 8; Prov 15:27.⚜
24 📚He who has understanding has
wisdom before him,
but the eyes of a fool are on the ends
of the earth 📖.
25 📚A foolish son is a grief to his father,
and bitterness to her who gave him birth.
26 📚It is also not good to punish
the righteous,
or to strike princes for their integrity.
27 📚He who has knowledge is sparing
with his words,
and a man of understanding has
a rare spirit.
28 📚Even a fool is considered wise
if he keeps quiet;
and he who keeps his lips shut
is regarded as a man
of understanding.