Proverbs 17:4
A bad man hearkens to the tongue of transgressors: but a righteous man attends not to false lips.
Brenton Septuagint
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 and gold are tried in a furnace, so are choice hearts with the Lord.
Cross References
1 Samuel 22:7And Saul said to his servants that stood by him, Hear now, ye sons of Benjamin, will the son of Jessæ indeed give all of you fields and vineyards, and will he make you all captains of hundreds and captains of thousands?
Proverbs 28:4so they that forsake the law praise ungodliness; but they that love the law fortify themselves with a wall.
Jeremiah 5:31the prophets utter unrighteous prophecies, and the priests have clapped their hands: and my people has loved to have it thus: and what will ye do for the future?
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 →