Proverbs 17:4
A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar gives ear to a destructive tongue.
Berean Standard Bible
In The King James Version
A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.
In Context
3A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
5He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
Cross References
1 Samuel 22:7Then Saul said to his servants, “Listen, men of Benjamin! Is the son of Jesse giving all of you fields and vineyards and making you commanders of thousands or hundreds?
Proverbs 28:4Those who forsake the law praise the wicked, but those who keep the law resist them.
Jeremiah 5:31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests rule by their own authority. My people love it so, but what will you do in the end?
1 John 4:5They are of the world. That is why they speak from the world’s perspective, and the world listens to 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 →