17
1 Better is a dry crust, and quietness therewith,
than a bais full of zevakhim (sacrificial religious meals) with strife.
2 An eved maskil (wise servant) shall have rule over a ben that causeth shame,
and shall have a share of the nachalah among the achim.
3 The crucible is for kesef, and the furnace for zahav,
but Hashem is the testor of hearts.
4 An evildoer giveth heed to false sfatayim (lips),
and a sheker (liar) giveth ear to a spiteful lashon.
5 He who mocketh the poor showeth contempt for his Oseh (Maker),
and he that gloats at calamities shall not go unpunished.
6 Bnei banim are the ateret of zekenim;
and the tiferet of banim are their avot.
7 Eloquent speech becometh not a naval (fool),
much less do lying sfatayim (lips) a ruler.
8 A shochad (gift, bribe) is like a charm in the eynayim of him that hath it:
wherever he turneth, he prospereth.
9 He that covereth a peysha (transgression) seeketh love;
but he that repeateth a matter separateth the best of friends.
10 Ge'arah (scolding) goeth deeper into a meiven
than a hundred blows into a kesil (fool).
11 A rah seeketh only rebellion;
therefore a merciless malach shall be sent to him.
12 Let an ish meet a dov robbed of her cubs
rather than a kesil in his folly.
13 He who rewardeth ra'ah for tovah,
ra'ah shall not depart from his bais.
14 The beginning of madon (strife) is like releasing mayim,
therefore stop contention before a quarrel begins.
15 He that justifieth the rashah,
and he that condemneth the tzaddik,
even they both are to'evah to Hashem.
16 Why is there the purchase price in the yad of a kesil (fool) to acquire chochmah,
seeing he hath no lev for it?
17 The re'a (friend) loveth at all times,
and a brother is born for tzarah (adversity).
18 Adam devoid of lev* shaketh hands in pledge,
and becometh the security deposit for his neighbor.
19 He loveth peysha (transgression, sin) that loveth strife,
and he that maketh his threshold high seeketh shever (fracture).
20 He that hath a crooked mind findeth no tov,
and he that hath a deceitful lashon falleth into ra'ah.
21 He that begetteth a kesil doeth it to his sorrow,
and the avi naval hath no simchah.
22 A lev same'ach doeth tov like a medicine,
but a downcast ruach drieth up the bones.
23 A rasha accepts a shochad (bribe) out of the kheyk (bosom),†
to pervert the orkhot mishpat (paths of justice).
24 Chochmah is before the meiven (discerning one);
but the eynayim of a kesil are on the ends of ha'aretz.
25 A ben kesil is a ka'as (grief) to aviv (his father),
and bitterness to her that bore him.
26 Also to punish the tzaddik is not tov,
nor to flog officials for their yashar (uprightness, integrity).
27 He that hath da'as spareth his words,
and an ish tevunah (man of understanding) is of a calm ruach.
28 Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted chacham,
and he that shutteth his sfatayim (lips) is esteemed a man of understanding.
* 17:18 of understanding † 17:23 i.e., secretly