Proverbs 17:4
The evil man obeyeth an unjust tongue: and the deceitful hearkeneth to lying lips.
Douay-Rheims 1899
In The King James Version
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
In Context
3As silver is tried by fire, and gold in the furnace: so the Lord trieth the hearts.
Cross References
1 Samuel 22:7He said to his servants that stood about him: Hear me now, ye sons of Jemini: will the son of Isai give everyone of you fields, and vineyards, and make you all tribunes, and centurions:
Proverbs 28:4They that forsake the law, praise the wicked man: they that keep it, are incensed against him.
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesied falsehood, and the priests clapped their hands: and my people loved such things: what then shall be done in the end thereof?
1 John 4:5They are of the world: therefore of the world they speak, and the world heareth 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 →