Proverbs 17:4
An evil-doer gives heed to wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
A Conservative Version
In The King James Version
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
In Context
3The refining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but LORD tries the hearts.
5He who mocks a poor man reproaches his maker. He who is glad at calamity shall not be unpunished.
Cross References
1 Samuel 22:7And Saul said to his servants who stood about him, Hear now, ye Benjamites. Will the son of Jesse give every one of you fields and vineyards. Will he make you all captains of thousands and captains of hundreds,
Proverbs 28:4Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them.
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means. And my people love to have it so. And what will ye do in the end thereof?
1 John 4:5They are of the world. Because of this they speak of the world, and the world hears them.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:4
3 The fining pot is for silver, and the furnace for gold: but the Lord trieth the hearts. Note, 1. The hearts of the children of men are subject, not only to God's view, but to his judgment: As the fining-pot is for silver, both to prove it and to improve it so the Lord tries the hearts; he searches whether they are standard or no, and those that are he refines and makes purer, Jer. xvii. 10 . God tries the heart by affliction ( Ps. lxvi. 10, 11 ), and often chooses his people in that furnace ( Isa. xlviii. 10 )… Read the whole commentary →