Proverbs 19

English NRSV 1989 - Only for website

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1Better the poor walking in integrity than one perverse of speech who is a fool.

2Desire without knowledge is not good, and one who moves too hurriedly misses the way.

3One's own folly leads to ruin, yet the heart rages against the LORD.

4Wealth brings many friends, but the poor are left friendless.

5A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will not escape.

6Many seek the favor of the generous, and everyone is a friend to a giver of gifts.

7If the poor are hated even by their kin, how much more are they shunned by their friends! When they call after them, they are not there.

8To get wisdom is to love oneself; to keep understanding is to prosper.

9A false witness will not go unpunished, and the liar will perish.

10It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury, much less for a slave to rule over princes.

11Those with good sense are slow to anger, and it is their glory to overlook an offense.

12A king's anger is like the growling of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

13A stupid child is ruin to a father, and a wife's quarreling is a continual dripping of rain.

14House and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

15Laziness brings on deep sleep; an idle person will suffer hunger.

16Those who keep the commandment will live; those who are heedless of their ways will die.

17Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the LORD, and will be repaid in full.

18Discipline your children while there is hope; do not set your heart on their destruction.

19A violent tempered person will pay the penalty; if you effect a rescue, you will only have to do it again.

20Listen to advice and accept instruction, that you may gain wisdom for the future.

21The human mind may devise many plans, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.

22What is desirable in a person is loyalty, and it is better to be poor than a liar.

23The fear of the LORD is life indeed; filled with it one rests secure and suffers no harm.

24The lazy person buries a hand in the dish, and will not even bring it back to the mouth.

25Strike a scoffer, and the simple will learn prudence; reprove the intelligent, and they will gain knowledge.

26Those who do violence to their father and chase away their mother are children who cause shame and bring reproach.

27Cease straying, my child, from the words of knowledge, in order that you may hear instruction.

28A worthless witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked devours iniquity.

29Condemnation is ready for scoffers, and flogging for the backs of fools.

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