17 Better a dry crust with peace and quiet
than a house full of feasting, with strife.

² A prudent servant will rule over a disgraceful son
and will share the inheritance as one of the family.

³ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold,
but the Lord tests the heart.

⁴ A wicked person listens to deceitful lips;
a liar pays attention to a destructive tongue.

⁵ Whoever mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker;
whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished.

⁶ Children’s children are a crown to the aged,
and parents are the pride of their children.

⁷ Eloquent lips are unsuited to a godless fool−
how much worse lying lips to a ruler!

⁸ A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it;
they think success will come at every turn.

⁹ Whoever would foster love covers over an offense,
but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.

¹⁰ A rebuke impresses a discerning person
more than a hundred lashes a fool.

¹¹ Evildoers foster rebellion against God;
the messenger of death will be sent against them.

¹² Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than a fool bent on folly.

¹³ Evil will never leave the house
of one who pays back evil for good.

¹⁴ Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam;
so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out.

¹⁵ Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent −
the Lord detests them both.

¹⁶ Why should fools have money in hand to buy wisdom,
when they are not able to understand it?

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.

¹⁸ One who has no sense shakes hands in pledge
and puts up security for a neighbor.

¹⁹ Whoever loves a quarrel loves sin;
whoever builds a high gate invites destruction.

²⁰ One whose heart is corrupt does not prosper;
one whose tongue is perverse falls into trouble.

²¹ To have a fool for a child brings grief;
there is no joy for the parent of a godless fool.

²² A cheerful heart is good medicine,
but a crushed spirit dries up the bones.

²³ The wicked accept bribes in secret
to pervert the course of justice.

²⁴ A discerning person keeps wisdom in view,
but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth.

²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father
and bitterness to the mother who bore him.

²⁶ If imposing a fine on the innocent is not good,
surely to flog honest officials is not right.

²⁷ The one who has knowledge uses words with restraint,
and whoever has understanding is even-tempered.

²⁸ Even fools are thought wise if they keep silent,
and discerning if they hold their tongues.

³ Look on me and answer, Lord my God.
Give light to my eyes, or I will sleep in death,
⁴ and my enemy will say, "I have overcome him, "
and my foes will rejoice when I fall.

⁵ But I trust in your unfailing love;
my heart rejoices in your salvation.
⁶ I will sing the Lord’s praise,
for he has been good to me.

² The Lord looks down from heaven
on all mankind
to see if there are any who understand,
any who seek God.
³ All have turned away, all have become corrupt;
there is no one who does good,
not even one.

⁴ Do all these evildoers know nothing?

They devour my people as though eating bread;
they never call on the Lord.
⁵ But there they are, overwhelmed with dread,
for God is present in the company of the righteous.
⁶ You evildoers frustrate the plans of the poor,
but the Lord is their refuge.

⁷ Oh, that salvation for Israel would come out of Zion!
When the Lord restores his people,
let Jacob rejoice and Israel be glad!

² The one whose walk is blameless,
who does what is righteous,
who speaks the truth from their heart;
³ whose tongue utters no slander,
who does no wrong to a neighbor,
and casts no slur on others;
⁴ who despises a vile person
but honors those who fear the Lord;
who keeps an oath even when it hurts,
and does not change their mind;
⁵ who lends money to the poor without interest;
who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.

Whoever does these things
will never be shaken.

² I say to the Lord, "You are my Lord;
apart from you I have no good thing."
³ I say of the holy people who are in the land,
"They are the noble ones in whom is all my delight."
⁴ Those who run after other gods will suffer more and more.
I will not pour out libations of blood to such gods
or take up their names on my lips.

⁵ Lord, you alone are my portion and my cup;
you make my lot secure.
⁶ The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places;
surely I have a delightful inheritance.
⁷ I will praise the Lord, who counsels me;
even at night my heart instructs me.
⁸ I keep my eyes always on the Lord.
With him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.

⁹ Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices;
my body also will rest secure,
¹⁰ because you will not abandon me to the realm of the dead,
nor will you let your faithful^[d] one see decay.
¹¹ You make known to me the path of life;
you will fill me with joy in your presence,
with eternal pleasures at your right hand.