Proverbs 17
1Better is a drye morsell with quietnesse, then a house full of fat offeryng with strife.
2A discrete seruaunt shall haue rule ouer a lewde sonne, and shal haue heritage with the brethren.
3As siluer is tryed in the fire, and golde in the furnace: so doth the Lorde proue the heartes.
4A wicked body geueth heede to false lippes, and a lyer geueth eare to a deceiptfull tongue.
5Who so scorneth the poore, blasphemeth his maker: and he that is glad at [another mans] hurt, shall not be vnpunished.
6Childers children are a crowne of the aged, and the fathers are the honour of the children.
7Speache of aucthoritie becommeth not a foole, much lesse a lying mouth then beseemeth a prince.
8A gyft is as a precious stone vnto hym that hath it: but vnto whom soeuer it turneth, it maketh hym vnwise.
9Who so couereth a fault, procureth loue: but he that discloseth it, deuideth very frendes.
10One reproofe more feareth a wise man, then an hundred stripes doth a foole.
11A seditious person seketh mischiefe, and a cruell messenger shalbe sent agaynst hym.
12It were better to meete a shee beare robbed of her whelpes, then a foole [trusting] in his foolishnesse.
13Who so rewardeth euill for good, euil shall not depart from his house.
14The beginning of strife is, as when a man maketh an issue for water: therfore leaue of before the contention be medled with.
15The Lorde hateth as well hym that iustifieth the vngodly, as him that condempneth the innocent.
16Whereto hath a foole treasure in his hande to bye wisdome, seeing he hath no minde therto?
17He is a frende that alway loueth, and in aduersitie a man shall knowe who is his brother.
18Who so promiseth by the hande and is suretie for his neighbour, he is a foole.
19He that delighteth in sinne, loueth strife: and who so setteth his doore to hye, seeketh destruction.
20Who so hath a frowarde heart, obteyneth no good: and he that hath a double tongue, shall fall into mischiefe.
21He that begetteth a foole, begetteth his sorowe: and the father of a foole can haue no ioy.
22A mery heart make a lustie age: but a sorowfull minde dryeth vp the bones.
23The vngodly taketh gyftes out of the bosome, to wrest the wayes of iudgement.
24Wisdome [shineth] in the face of hym that hath vnderstanding: but the eyes of fooles wander throughout al landes.
25An vndiscrete sonne is a griefe vnto his father: and an heauinesse vnto his mother.
26Certaynely to condempne the iust is not good: nor to strike the gouernours whiche iudge rightly.
27A wyse man vseth fewe wordes, and a man of vnderstanding is of a pacient spirite.
28Yea, a very foole when he holdeth his tongue is counted wise: and he that stoppeth his lippes is esteemed prudent.