1 Better [is] a dry piece of bread, and quietness with it, than a house full of sacrifices [with] fighting.

2 A wise servant shall have rule over a son who causes shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brothers.

3 The refining pot [is] for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the LORD tries the hearts.

4 A wicked doer gives heed to false lips; a liar gives ear to an evil tongue.

5 Whoever scorns the poor reviles his Maker; he who is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.

6 Sons of sons [are] the crown of old men, and the glory of sons [are] their fathers.

7 An excellent lip [is] not fitting for a fool; much less are lying lips fitting for a prince.

8 A bribe [is] like a precious stone in the eyes of him who has it; wherever he turns, he is prudent.

9 He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.

10 A reproof enters more into a wise man than a thousand stripes into a fool.

11 An evil one seeks only rebellion; so a cruel messenger shall be sent against him.

12 Let a bear robbed [of her cubs] meet a man, rather than a fool in his folly.

13 Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house.

14 The beginning of strife [is like] letting out water; therefore leave off fighting, before it breaks out.

15 He who justifies the wicked, and he who condemns the just, even both of them [are] hateful to the LORD.

16 Why [is there] a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, since [he has] no heart [for it] ?

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

18 A man lacking heart strikes hands; he pledges in the presence of his friend.

19 He who loves fighting loves transgression; he who makes his gate high seeks ruin.

20 He who has a perverse heart finds no good, and he who [has] a crooked tongue falls into mischief.

21 He who fathers a fool [does it] to his sorrow; the father of a fool has no joy.

22 A merry heart does good [like] a medicine, but a broken spirit dries the bones.

23 A wicked [man] takes a bribe out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.

24 Wisdom [is] before him who has understanding, but the eyes of a fool [are] in the ends of the earth.

25 A foolish son [is] a grief to his father, and bitterness to her who bore him.

26 And [it is] not good to punish the just, nor to strike princes for uprightness.

27 He who has knowledge uses few words; a man of understanding is of an excellent spirit.

28 Even a fool, when he [is] silent, is counted wise, and he who shuts his lips [is counted as] a man of understanding.