Proverbs

12 One who loves being instructed loves knowledge;

but one who hates being corrected goes stupid.

2 A kindly man will obtain favor from Jehovah,

but a schemer he will condemn.

3 Man is not set firm by wrong-doing;

but right-doers’ roots are unshaken.

4 A worthy wife is her husband’s crown,

but a worthless one is like a rot in his bones.

5 Honest men’s plans are for legitimate procedure;

rogues’ tactics are fraud.

6* Rogues’ words are an ambush for bloodshed,

but upright men’s mouths deliver them.

7 Upset rogues and they are nowhere;

but honest men’s house will stand.

8 A man will be praised in proportion to his good judgment;

but a dizzy-headed man will come into contempt.

9 A nobody who owns a slave

is better than a pretentious man short of bread to eat.

10 A right-minded man knows the wants of his animal;

but vicious men’s feelings are brutal.

11 One who works his ground will have plenty of bread;

but one who runs after unpractical things lacks brains.

12* Love for wrong-doing is a net for bad men;

but honest men’s root is permanent.

13 In crime of the lips is a disastrous snare,

but an honest man gets out of the pinch.

14* Out of the fruit of a man’s mouth he will have his fill of good,

and the dealing of one’s hands will come back to him.

15 A know-nothing’s course seems all right to him,

but he who listens to advice is wise.

16* A know-nothing’s pique is displayed on the spot,

but a shrewd man covers up a dishonor.

17 Who utters reliable facts shows the right;

but a false-speaking witness, a cheat.

18* There is such a thing as a man whose jabber is like sword-stabs;

but wise men’s tongue is healing.

19 A lip of truth will stand fast forevermore,

but a tongue of falsehood for an instant.

20* There is double-dealing in the hearts of those who are cooking up harm,

but those who confer on wholesome policy have happiness.

21 No trouble will be brought upon a right-doer;

but wrong-doers are full of evil.

22 Lips of falsehood are what Jehovah detests,

but men who act truly are what he approves.

23 A shrewd man covers up knowledge,

but fools’ hearts bawl ignorance.

24 Energetic men’s hands will have control,

but slackness will come to servitude.

25* Worry in a man’s heart depresses it,

but thinking of a good thing gladdens it.

26* A right-doer will hunt up his pasture,

but the course wrong-doers are on will make them lose their way.

27* Slackness does not broil his game;

but energy treats a man’s goods as worth caring for.

28* On the highway of right there is life,

but an avenger’s course leads to death.