Proverbs 17:1–28 (NIV84)

¹ Better a dry crust with peace and quiet than a house full of feasting, with strife. ² A wise servant will rule over a disgraceful son, and will share the inheritance as one of the brothers. ³ The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. ⁴ A wicked man listens to evil lips; a liar pays attention to a malicious tongue. ⁵ He who mocks the poor shows contempt for their Maker; whoever gloats over disaster will not go unpunished. ⁶ Children’s children are a crown to the aged, and parents are the pride of their children. ⁷ Arrogant lips are unsuited to a fool— how much worse lying lips to a ruler! ⁸ A bribe is a charm to the one who gives it; wherever he turns, he succeeds. ⁹ He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. ¹⁰ A rebuke impresses a man of discernment more than a hundred lashes a fool. ¹¹ An evil man is bent only on rebellion; a merciless official will be sent against him. ¹² Better to meet a bear robbed of her cubs than a fool in his folly. ¹³ If a man pays back evil for good, evil will never leave his house. ¹⁴ Starting a quarrel is like breaching a dam; so drop the matter before a dispute breaks out. ¹⁵Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent— the Lord detests them both. ¹⁶ Of what use is money in the hand of a fool, since he has no desire to get wisdom? ¹⁷ A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. ¹⁸ A man lacking in judgment strikes hands in pledge and puts up security for his neighbor. ¹⁹ He who loves a quarrel loves sin; he who builds a high gate invites destruction. ²⁰ A man of perverse heart does not prosper; he whose tongue is deceitful falls into trouble. ²¹ To have a fool for a son brings grief; there is no joy for the father of a fool. ²² A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. ²³ A wicked man accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the course of justice. ²⁴ A discerning man keeps wisdom in view, but a fool’s eyes wander to the ends of the earth. ²⁵ A foolish son brings grief to his father and bitterness to the one who bore him. ²⁶ It is not good to punish an innocent man, or to flog officials for their integrity. ²⁷ A man of knowledge uses words with restraint, and a man of understanding is even-tempered. ²⁸ Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent, and discerning if he holds his tongue.

James 1:19–27 (NIV84)

¹⁹ My dear brothers, take note of this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, ²⁰ for man’s anger does not bring about the righteous life that God desires. ²¹ Therefore, get rid of all moral filth and the evil that is so prevalent and humbly accept the word planted in you, which can save you. ²² Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says. ²³ Anyone who listens to the word but does not do what it says is like a man who looks at his face in a mirror ²⁴ and, after looking at himself, goes away and immediately forgets what he looks like. ²⁵But the man who looks intently into the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do this, not forgetting what he has heard, but doing it—he will be blessed in what he does. ²⁶ If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless. ²⁷ Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.