1 ARST It is better for someone to have a little stale food{ to eat} while living peacefully than for someone to live in a house where people frequently eat large meals while arguing with each other. BSB BSB: Better a dry morsel in quietness than a house full of feasting with strife.
2 ARST An insightful slave will rule over his master’ s disgraceful son. People will consider that slave to be one of his master’ s sons, and he will inherit some of what his master’ s sons inherit. BSB BSB: A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son and share his inheritance as one of the brothers.
3 ARST People use crucibles and furnaces to test and refine silver and gold. Yahweh tests what people are thinking in a similar manner. BSB BSB: A crucible for silver and a furnace for gold, but the LORD is the tester of hearts.
4 ARST People who act evilly listen carefully when people speak what is sinful; people who lie pay attention when people speak what destroys{ others}. BSB BSB: A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar gives ear to a destructive tongue.
5 ARST People who ridicule poor people despise Yahweh, who made them; Yahweh will certainly punish people who rejoice when other people experience disastrous things. BSB BSB: He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
6 ARST Old people are proud of their grandchildren, and children are proud of their parents. BSB BSB: Grandchildren are the crown of the aged, and the glory of a son is his father.
7 ARST It is not fitting for worthless people to speak eloquently. It is even less fitting for royal officials to speak falsely! BSB BSB: Eloquent words are unfit for a fool; how much worse are lying lips to a ruler!
8 ARST People who pay bribes think that bribes are magical;{ they think that} everything they do will be successful. BSB BSB: A bribe is a charm to its giver; wherever he turns, he succeeds.
9 ARST People who want to love forgive people who wrong them, but people who repeatedly mention how someone wronged them cause friends to stop being friends. BSB BSB: Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.
10 ARST Rebuking causes understanding people to learn more than beating foolish people a hundred times{ with a stick causes them to learn}. BSB BSB: A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.
11 ARST Evil people only want to rebel, so a merciless messenger will come and punish them. BSB BSB: An evil man seeks only rebellion; a cruel messenger will be sent against him.
12 ARST It would be better to meet a female bear that is furious because someone stole her cubs than to meet foolish people while they are acting foolishly! BSB BSB: It is better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly.
13 ARST If people react to experiencing what is good by doing what is evil, then what is evil will continually affect their families. BSB BSB: If anyone returns evil for good, evil will never leave his house.
14 ARST When people start arguing with each other, it is as difficult to stop as it is to stop water that is leaking out of something, so prevent yourself from arguing before you start to argue. BSB BSB: To start a quarrel is to release a flood; so abandon the dispute before it breaks out.
15 ARST There are people who acquit guilty people, and there are people who condemn innocent people; Yahweh detests both types of people. BSB BSB: Acquitting the guilty and condemning the righteous—both are detestable to the LORD.
16 ARST How useless it is for foolish people to try to pay money in order to become wise when they are unable to think! BSB BSB: Why should the fool have money in his hand with no intention of buying wisdom?
17 ARST A friend loves{ you} all the time, and relatives exist in order to help{ other relatives} when disastrous things happen. BSB BSB: A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
18 ARST People who do not think wisely agree to pay someone else’ s loan and even guarantee to pay that loan in front of people whom they know. BSB BSB: A man lacking judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor.
19 ARST People who love to sin{ also} love to cause people to argue; people who brag a lot cause others to destroy them. BSB BSB: He who loves transgression loves strife; he who builds his gate high invites destruction.
20 ARST People who think deceitfully will never experience any good things, and bad things will happen to people who speak deceitfully. BSB BSB: The one with a perverse heart finds no good, and he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble.
21 ARST Foolish people grieve their parents. Indeed, worthless people will not cause their fathers to be joyful. BSB BSB: A man fathers a fool to his own grief; the father of a fool has no joy.
22 ARST People who feel happy will heal, but depressed people will be unhealthy. BSB BSB: A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.
23 ARST People secretly bribe wicked judges so that they judge unjustly. BSB BSB: A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
24 ARST Understanding people concentrate on what is wise, but foolish people cannot concentrate on anything. BSB BSB: Wisdom is the focus of the discerning, but the eyes of a fool wander to the ends of the earth.
25 ARST Foolish children grieve their fathers and make their mothers miserable. BSB BSB: A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to her who bore him.
26 ARST Punishing innocent people is surely wrong,{ and} beating royal officials is{ also} wrong. BSB BSB: It is surely not good to punish the innocent or to flog a noble for his honesty.
27 ARST People who refrain from speaking{ unnecessarily} are knowledgeable, and people who remain calm are understanding people. BSB BSB: A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit.
28 ARST People will think even foolish people are wise if those foolish people do not speak. Indeed, people who refrain from speaking are understanding people. BSB BSB: Even a fool is considered wise if he keeps silent, and discerning when he holds his tongue.
Select verses for actions: Enter goes to them and Escape comes back.