Proverbs
15 A soft answer wards off ill temper,
but a harsh word brings up anger.
3 Jehovah’s eyes are in every place,
keeping a lookout over bad men and good.
4** Calmness of tongue is bark from a tree of life,
but upsetting in it means a fracture in the spirit.
5 A know-nothing is contemptuous of his father’s training,
but one who observes admonition will grow shrewd.
6 A right-doer’s house has in it plenty of capital;
but in a wrong-doer’s produce trouble breeds.
7 Wise men’s lips sprinkle knowledge,
but fools’ hearts are not right.
8 Wrong-doers’ sacrifice is what Jehovah abominates,
but upright men’s prayer is what he accepts.
9 What Jehovah abominates is a wrong-doer’s course;
but a pursuer of right he loves.
10 A path-leaver gets hard discipline;
a hater of admonition will die.
11 The world of the dead, the land of the gone forever, are present before Jehovah;
much more the hearts of human beings.
12 A cynic does not love being admonished;
he does not go to wise men.
13 A glad heart does good to the face;
but with pain at heart comes a broken-down spirit.
14 A sensible heart hunts up knowledge,
but fools’ mouths pasture on ignorance.
15 All a doleful man’s days are bad,
but a cheery man is a banquet all the time.
16 Better a little in the fear of Jehovah
than a great store and everything going wrong in it.
17 Better a dish of greens when love is there
than a stall-fed cow and hate about it.
18 A hot-tempered man sets quarrels going,
but a patient man quiets a dispute down.
21 Foolishness is bliss to a brainless man,
but an intelligent man will go straight.
22 Frustration of plans comes by not going into conference,
but by plenty of advisers they will go through.
25 Jehovah sweeps off proud men’s house,
but sets in place a widow’s boundary-mark.
27 One who grasps at gain is breeding trouble for his house,
but one who hates gifts will live.
28 A right-doer’s heart studies to give an answer,
but wrong-doers’ mouths stream viciousness.
29 Jehovah is far from wrong-doers
but hears right-doers’ prayer.
31 An ear that can hear admonition is life;
it will harbor itself amid wise men.
32 One who neglects instruction thinks nothing of his own being; but one who listens to admonition is getting brains.
33 Fear of Jehovah is a discipline in wisdom,
and humility is antecedent to dignity.