Proverbs 17:7-24 - The Consequences Of Being A Fool

⁷ Eloquent words are not appropriate on a fool’s lips;
how much worse are lies for a ruler.

⁸ A bribe seems like a magic stone to its owner;
wherever he turns, he succeeds.

⁹ Whoever conceals an offense promotes love,
but whoever gossips about it separates friends.

¹⁰ A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person
more than a hundred lashes into a fool.

¹¹ An evil man seeks only rebellion;
a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

¹² Better for a man to meet a bear robbed of her cubs
than a fool in his foolishness.

¹³ If anyone returns evil for good,
evil will never depart from his house.

¹⁴ To start a conflict is to release a flood;
stop the dispute before it breaks out.

¹⁵ Acquitting the guilty and condemning the just—
both are detestable to the Lord.

¹⁶ Why does a fool have money in his hand
with no intention of buying wisdom?

¹⁷ A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a difficult time.

¹⁸ One without sense enters an agreement
and puts up security for his friend.

¹⁹ One who loves to offend loves strife;
one who builds a high threshold invites injury.

²⁰ One with a twisted mind will not succeed,
and one with deceitful speech will fall into ruin.

²¹ A man fathers a fool to his own sorrow;
the father of a fool has no joy.

²² A joyful heart is good medicine,
but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

²³ A wicked man secretly takes a bribe
to subvert the course of justice.

²⁴ Wisdom is the focus of the perceptive,
but a fool’s eyes roam to the ends of the earth.