1Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than have a banquet in a house full of trouble.

2A shrewd servant will gain authority over a master's worthless son and receive a part of the inheritance.

3Gold and silver are tested by fire, and a person's heart is tested by the Lord.

4Evil people listen to evil ideas, and liars listen to lies.

5If you make fun of poor people, you insult the God who made them. You will be punished if you take pleasure in someone's misfortune.

6Grandparents are proud of their grandchildren, just as children are proud of their parents.

7Respected people do not tell lies, and fools have nothing worthwhile to say.

8Some people think a bribe works like magic; they believe it can do anything.

9If you want people to like you, forgive them when they wrong you. Remembering wrongs can break up a friendship.

10An intelligent person learns more from one rebuke than a fool learns from being beaten a hundred times.

11Death will come like a cruel messenger to wicked people who are always stirring up trouble.

12It is better to meet a mother bear robbed of her cubs than to meet some fool busy with a stupid project.

13If you repay good with evil, you will never get evil out of your house.

14The start of an argument is like the first break in a dam; stop it before it goes any further.

15Condemning the innocent or letting the wicked go—both are hateful to the Lord.

16It does a fool no good to spend money on an education, because he has no common sense.

17 Friends always show their love. What are relatives for if not to share trouble?

18Only someone with no sense would promise to be responsible for someone else's debts.

19To like sin is to like making trouble. If you brag all the time,+ you are asking for trouble.

20Anyone who thinks and speaks evil can expect to find nothing good—only disaster.

21There is nothing but sadness and sorrow for parents whose children do foolish things.

22Being cheerful keeps you healthy. It is slow death to be gloomy all the time.

23Corrupt judges accept secret bribes, and then justice is not done.

24An intelligent person aims at wise action, but a fool starts off in many directions.

25Foolish children bring grief to their fathers and bitter regrets to their mothers.

26It is not right to make an innocent person pay a fine; justice is perverted when good people are punished.

27Those who are sure of themselves do not talk all the time. People who stay calm have real insight. 28 After all, even fools may be thought wise and intelligent if they stay quiet and keep their mouths shut.