מִשְׁלֵי 17
| טוב פת חרבה ושלוה בה מבית מלא זבחי ריב׃ | 1 |
It is better [to eat] a dry piece [of bread] and not have strife/quarrels than to have a big feast in a house where [everyone] is quarreling.
| עבד משכיל ימשל בבן מביש ובתוך אחים יחלק נחלה׃ | 2 |
A slave who acts wisely will [some day] be the boss of his master’s disgraceful son and when his master dies, the slave will receive part of his master’s possessions.
| מצרף לכסף וכור לזהב ובחן לבות יהוה׃ | 3 |
[Workers put] silver and gold in a very hot furnace [to burn out what is impure], and Yahweh [similarly] examines people’s inner beings [to see if they are pure].
| מרע מקשיב על שפת און שקר מזין על לשון הות׃ | 4 |
Those who do what is evil pay attention to people who say [MTY] what is evil, and liars pay attention to [other people’s] lies.
| לעג לרש חרף עשהו שמח לאיד לא ינקה׃ | 5 |
Those who make fun of poor [people] insult God, the one who made the poor [people], [and] those who are happy when [someone else has] troubles will certainly be punished [LIT] [by God].
| עטרת זקנים בני בנים ותפארת בנים אבותם׃ | 6 |
Old [people] are [usually] proud of [MET] their grandchildren, [just like] children are [usually] proud of their parents.
| לא נאוה לנבל שפת יתר אף כי לנדיב שפת שקר׃ | 7 |
Fine/Eloquent speech is not suitable for foolish people to say, just like lies are not suitable for rulers [to say].
| אבן חן השחד בעיני בעליו אל כל אשר יפנה ישכיל׃ | 8 |
People think that a bribe is like a magic stone [to persuade someone to do what they want him to do]; they think that because of the bribe, that person will do whatever they want him to do.
| מכסה פשע מבקש אהבה ושנה בדבר מפריד אלוף׃ | 9 |
If you want people to like/love you, forgive them for the wrong things that they do to you. If you continue to remind them about those wrong things, they will no longer be your friends.
| תחת גערה במבין מהכות כסיל מאה׃ | 10 |
Rebuking people who have good sense will accomplish more for them than hitting them 100 times [with a stick].
| אך מרי יבקש רע ומלאך אכזרי ישלח בו׃ | 11 |
[Because] wicked people are always trying to cause trouble, someone will be sent to severely punish them.
| פגוש דב שכול באיש ואל כסיל באולתו׃ | 12 |
A mother bear whose cubs have been taken away from her is dangerous, but it is more dangerous to confront a foolish person who is doing something foolish.
| משיב רעה תחת טובה לא תמיש רעה מביתו׃ | 13 |
If someone does something evil in return for something good being done to him, evil/trouble will never leave that person’s family.
| פוטר מים ראשית מדון ולפני התגלע הריב נטוש׃ | 14 |
Starting a quarrel is like allowing water to start to leak out of a dam; they both need to be stopped before they get worse.
| מצדיק רשע ומרשיע צדיק תועבת יהוה גם שניהם׃ | 15 |
There are two things that Yahweh hates: (Condemning innocent [people]/Saying that people who have done nothing wrong must be punished), and declaring that people who have done wicked things should not be punished.
| למה זה מחיר ביד כסיל לקנות חכמה ולב אין׃ | 16 |
It is useless to allow foolish people [RHQ] to try to become wise by paying for it, because they do not have enough good sense to become wise.
| בכל עת אהב הרע ואח לצרה יולד׃ | 17 |
Friends love [others] all the time, and relatives are able to help us when we have troubles.
| אדם חסר לב תוקע כף ערב ערבה לפני רעהו׃ | 18 |
[If someone borrows money from another person], it is foolish for you to promise [IDM] that you will pay the money back if that other person is unable to pay back the money that he borrowed.
| אהב פשע אהב מצה מגביה פתחו מבקש שבר׃ | 19 |
Those who like to sin [also] like to cause strife/trouble; [and] those who build fancy doors in their houses [to show that they are very wealthy] (OR, speak proudly) are inviting disaster.
| עקש לב לא ימצא טוב ונהפך בלשונו יפול ברעה׃ | 20 |
Those who (have perverse minds/are always thinking about doing evil things) will not prosper, and disasters will happen to those who always tell lies.
| ילד כסיל לתוגה לו ולא ישמח אבי נבל׃ | 21 |
Children who are foolish [soon] cause their parents to be very sad; their parents will not be joyful at all.
| לב שמח ייטב גהה ורוח נכאה תיבש גרם׃ | 22 |
Being cheerful is [like swallowing] good medicine; being discouraged/gloomy [all the time will] (drain away your energy/cause you to become weak) [MTY].
| שחד מחיק רשע יקח להטות ארחות משפט׃ | 23 |
Wicked people/judges accept bribes that are given to them secretly, and as a result they do not decide matters justly/fairly.
| את פני מבין חכמה ועיני כסיל בקצה ארץ׃ | 24 |
Those who have good sense determine to do what is wise, but foolish people are always thinking about many different things [and never decide what they should do].
| כעס לאביו בן כסיל וממר ליולדתו׃ | 25 |
Children who are foolish cause their father to be sad and [also] cause their mother to be very sorrowful.
| גם ענוש לצדיק לא טוב להכות נדיבים על ישר׃ | 26 |
It is not right to force someone who has done nothing wrong to pay a fine; it is wrong to punish good/respected people.
| חושך אמריו יודע דעת וקר רוח איש תבונה׃ | 27 |
Those who have good sense do not talk a lot, and those who (control their tempers/keep themselves from becoming very angry) are [truly] wise.
| גם אויל מחריש חכם יחשב אטם שפתיו נבון׃ | 28 |
People [may] think that foolish people who do not say anything are wise; if foolish people (do not say anything/keep their mouths shut), others will think that they are [very] intelligent.
