To The Word – Day 157

₁Better to eat a dry crust of bread with peace of mind than to 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 laugh at 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.

₁₇Friends 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. ₂₈After all, even a fool may be thought wise and intelligent if he stays quiet and keeps his mouth shut.

₁People who do not get along with others are interested only in themselves; they will disagree with what everyone else knows is right.

₂A fool does not care whether he understands a thing or not; all he wants to do is to show how clever he is.

₃Sin and shame go together. Lose your honour, and you will get scorn in its place.

₄A person's words can be a source of wisdom, deep as the ocean, fresh as a flowing stream.

₅It is not right to favour the guilty and prevent the innocent from receiving justice.

₆When some fool starts an argument, he is asking for a beating.

₇When a fool speaks, he is ruining himself; he gets caught in the trap of his own words.

₈Gossip is so tasty — how we love to swallow it!

₉A lazy person is as bad as someone who is destructive.

₁₀The LORD is like a strong tower, where the righteous can go and be safe. ₁₁Rich people, however, imagine that their wealth protects them like high, strong walls round a city.

₁₂No one is respected unless he is humble; arrogant people are on the way to ruin.

₁₃Listen before you answer. If you don't you are being stupid and insulting.

₁₄Your will to live can sustain you when you are sick, but if you lose it, your last hope is gone.

₁₅Intelligent people are always eager and ready to learn.

₁₆Do you want to meet an important person? Take a gift and it will be easy.

₁₇The first to speak in court always seems right until his opponent begins to question him.

₁₈If two powerful men are opposing each other in court, casting lots can settle the issue.

₁₉Help your relatives and they will protect you like a strong city wall, but if you quarrel with them, they will close their doors to you.

₂₀You will have to live with the consequences of everything you say. ₂₁What you say can preserve life or destroy it; so you must accept the consequences of your words.

₂₂Find a wife and you find a good thing; it shows that the LORD is good to you.

₂₃When the poor speak, they have to beg politely, but when the rich answer, they are rude.

₂₄Some friendships do not last, but some friends are more loyal than brothers.

₁It is better to be poor but honest than to be a lying fool.

₂Enthusiasm without knowledge is not good; impatience will get you into trouble.

₃Some people ruin themselves by their own stupid actions and then blame the LORD.

₄Rich people are always finding new friends, but the poor cannot keep the few they have.

₅If you tell lies in court, you will be punished — there will be no escape.

₆Everyone tries to gain the favour of important people; everyone claims the friendship of those who give out favours.

₇Even the relatives of a poor person have no use for him; no wonder he has no friends. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot win any.

₈Do yourself a favour and learn all you can; then remember what you learn and you will prosper.

₉No one who tells lies in court can escape punishment; he is doomed.

₁₀Fools should not live in luxury, and slaves should not rule over noblemen.

₁₁If you are sensible, you will control your temper. When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it.

₁₂The king's anger is like the roar of a lion, but his favour is like welcome rain.

₁₃Stupid children can bring their parents to ruin. A nagging wife is like water going drip-drip-drip.

₁₄A man can inherit a house and money from his parents, but only the LORD can give him a sensible wife.

₁₅Be lazy if you want to; sleep on, but you will go hungry.

₁₆Keep God's laws and you will live longer; if you ignore them, you will die.

₁₇When you give to the poor, it is like lending to the LORD, and the LORD will pay you back.

₁₈Discipline your children while they are young enough to learn. If you don't, you are helping them to destroy themselves.

₁₉If someone has a hot temper, let him take the consequences. If you get him out of trouble once, you will have to do it again.

₂₀If you listen to advice and are willing to learn, one day you will be wise.

₂₁People may plan all kinds of things, but the LORD's will is going to be done.

₂₂It is a disgrace to be greedy; poor people are better off than liars.

₂₃Obey the LORD and you will live a long life, content and safe from harm.

₂₄Some people are too lazy to put food in their own mouths.

₂₅Arrogance should be punished, so that people who don't know any better can learn a lesson. If you are wise, you will learn when you are corrected.

₂₆Only a shameful, disgraceful person would ill-treat his father or turn his mother away from his home.

₂₇Son, when you stop learning, you will soon neglect what you already know.

₂₈There is no justice where a witness is determined to hurt someone. Wicked people love the taste of evil.

₂₉A conceited fool is sure to get a beating.