1 Better is a dry {charevah: lacking moisture} morsel with quietness than a house full of sacrifices amid strife {riv: ongoing conflict}.
2 A discerning servant {maskil: acting wisely} will rule over a son who causes shame, and will share in the inheritance {nachalah: ancestral portion} among his brothers.
3 The refining pot {matzref: metal purifier} is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, but the LORD {YHWH, Heart Examiner} tests hearts.
4 An evildoer {mera: moral corruptor} listens to the lip of iniquity, and a liar gives ear to a tongue of destructions {havvot: ruinous speech}.
5 Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker {osehu: the One who formed him}, and whoever rejoices in calamity will not go unpunished {yannaqeh: be free from guilt}.
6 The crown of old men is sons of sons {benei banim: grandchildren}, and the glory of sons is their fathers {avotam: ancestral forebears}.
7 Excellent speech is not fitting for a fool {naval: senseless}, much less are lying lips for a noble {nadiv: princely generosity}.
8 A bribe {shochad: illicit gift} is like a precious stone in the eyes of its owner; wherever he turns, he prospers {yashkil: acts wisely}.
9 One who covers {mekhaseh: merciful concealment} a transgression seeks love, but one who keeps repeating a matter drives apart close friends {allûf: trusted companion}.
10 A rebuke {gearah: corrective reproach} penetrates an understanding person more than a hundred lashes do a fool {kesil: morally insensitive one}.
11 Surely an evil {ra: moral wrongdoing} person seeks only rebellion, and a cruel messenger {malakh: agent of retribution} will be sent against him.
12 Let a bear {dov: fierce creature} bereaved of her cubs meet a man, but not a fool {kesil: lacking sense} in his folly.
13 Whoever returns {meshiv: repays} evil instead of good, evil {ra'ah: wrongdoing} will not depart from his house.
14 Releasing water is the beginning of strife {madon: heated conflict}; leave a quarrel {riv: legal dispute} before it bursts forth.
15 He who justifies {matzdik: declares right} the wicked and he who condemns the righteous—both are an abomination to the LORD {YHWH, Moral Judge}.
16 Why is there this price in the hand of a fool to acquire wisdom {chokhmah: discerning insight}, when there is no heart {lev: mind, inner faculties}?
17 A friend {re’a: trusted companion} loves in every season, and a brother is born for adversity {tsarah: calamity, hardship}.
18 A man lacking sense {khasar-lev: without discernment} strikes hands and becomes a pledge {arubbah: legal guarantee} before his friend.
19 Whoever loves transgression{pesha: willful rebellion} loves strife, and whoever exalts his gate{pitcho: proud threshold} seeks destruction.
20 One who is twisted-of-heart {iqesh-lev: moral distortion} will not find good, and one who is perverse in his tongue will fall into evil {ra‘ah: calamitous result}.
21 He who begets a fool brings grief upon himself; and the father of a senseless one will find no joy {naval: morally deficient}.
22 A rejoicing heart {lev: inner self} does good like a healing {geha: restorative remedy}, but a stricken spirit dries up the bone.
23 A wicked {rasha: morally corrupt} person takes a bribe from the bosom to twist the tracks of justice {mishpat: legal verdict}.
24 Wisdom {chokhmah: skillful living} is before the face of the one who understands, but the eyes of a fool {kesil: one who rejects wisdom} are at the ends of the earth.
25 A foolish {kesil: unreasoning person} son brings grief to his father and bitterness to his mother {yoladto: the one who bore him}.
26 Also to punish the just is not good, nor to strike princes {nedivim: high officials} for uprightness {yosher: honest conduct}.
27 He who restrains {chosekh: holds back} his words has knowledge, and a man of understanding has a calm spirit {kar-ruach: cool composure}.
28 Even a fool, when he keeps silent, is counted wise {hakam: skill and insight}, and one who closes his lips is regarded as discerning {navon: understanding and perception}.