The Lord tests people
1It is better to eat only a dry piece of bread with peace
than to have a house full of meat
where people are fighting.
2A wise servant will rule
over his master's son
who does things that are wrong.
That servant will inherit their father's money
and things with the other brothers.
3People melt silver in a pot and
they melt gold in a furnace to test it,
but the Lord tests people
to find out what they are like.
4People who like to do bad things
listen to sinful stories,
and anyone who tells lies
likes to listen to people
who want to break things down.
5If you laugh at a poor man,
you are disrespecting God
who has made the poor man.
If you are happy when someone else suffers,
then God will punish you.
6Grandchildren make old people
feel like kings and children
are proud of their parents.
7Fools never say clever things
or use beautiful words,
and rulers should never tell lies.
8Some people think that
they can pay anyone bribe money
to do something bad.
They think all people will do wrong
if they pay them.
9If you love someone,
you will forgive him
when he does something wrong,
but if you keep on talking about
what he did wrong,
you will lose your friend.
10A wise man learns more
when you warn him about something
than a fool learns if you should
beat him 100 times.
11Sinful people always want to rebel,
but cruel messengers will come
to punish them.
12It is dangerous to come near
an angry mother bear after
someone has stolen her babies,
but it is worse to be with a fool
who does stupid things.
13If someone does bad things
to people who have been good to him,
he will always have trouble in his family.
14An argument starts like water
that begins to leak from a dam.
You must stop it before they start fighting.
15The Lord hates it when someone
says that a guilty person is innocent
or if he punishes a righteous person.
16It will not help a fool
if he has money to buy wisdom,
because he will not understand how to use it.
17A true friend will love you all the time
and a good brother will help you
when you have trouble.
18It is not wise to promise
to pay the debt of a friend,
or to say that you will pay back
the money that he owes other people.
19Someone who likes
to argue loves to sin.
If you boast about the things that you have,
you are asking for trouble.
20A person whose mind is sinful
will never succeed,
and a person who always tell lies
will have a lot of problems.
21If your child grows up to be foolish,
you will be very sad.
The father of a fool will never be happy.
22A happy person feels good and healthy,
but someone who is discouraged
always feels sick.
23A sinful person takes the bribe money
that someone gives him secretly,
and then he judges unfairly.
24People who understand what is important
always try to get more wisdom,
but a fool thinks of how he can get
everything in the world.
25Foolish children
make their fathers and mothers
very sad and disappointed.
26It is wrong to punish an innocent person
or to beat a good man because he is honest.
27Someone who knows a lot
does not talk too much.
Wise people do not get angry quickly,
but they stay calm and cool.
28If a fool does not speak,
people will think that he understands everything.
