Moff PROV Chapter 14

14 

Wisdom builds the house of life:

frivolity pulls it down.

2 

An honest life shows reverence for the Eternal:

a wayward life despises him.

3 

A fool’s talk brings a rod across his back,

but men of sense are safe with what they say.

4 

No oxen, no corn:

good crops come from work done by the ox.

5 

An honest witness never tells a falsehood,

but a dishonest witness utters lies.

6 

The scoffer seeks in vain for wisdom,

but knowledge is easy to a serious man.

7 

Withdraw from an impatient man;

you will not find a word of sense in him.

8 

Shrewd men are wise in grasping their affairs,

but the folly of a fool leads him astray.

9 

Guilt harbours among fools,

God’s favour among upright men.

10 

The heart knows its own bitter misery,

and no outsider shares its joy.

13 

Even in laughter the heart may be aching,

and joy may end in sorrow.

11 

The house of the wicked shall be destroyed,

but the dwelling of the upright shall flourish.

12 

What man thinks a right course,

may end upon the road to death.

14 

He who goes wrong must take the consequences:

the good man reaps the harvest of his deeds.

15 

The simpleton believes what he is told:

the shrewd man watches where he goes.

16 

A man of sense is cautious and shuns harm,

but a fool steps into it jauntily.

17 

A man of quick temper will do foolish things,

but a prudent man will be patient.

18 

What simpletons acquire is folly:

shrewd men will pick up knowledge.

19 

Bad men must bow before the good,

and wicked men must supplicate the just.

20 

The poor man is hateful even to his neighbour,

but the rich has many a friend.

21 

A man sins if he looks down on his neighbour;

but if he pities the poor, blessed is he.

22 

Do not evil-minded men fare miserably?

Good-natured men find people kind and true.

23 

In all labour there is profit:

mere talk only tends to penury.

24 

The crown of wise men is their wisdom:

the coronet of fools is their own folly.

25 

An honest witness will save life;

but one who tells a lie destroys life.

26 

He who reverences the Eternal has strong ground for confidence;

his very children win security.

27 

Reverence for the Eternal is a fount of life,

it shows how to evade the nets of Death.

28 

When a nation swarms, it is the monarch’s glory:

when a nation is scanty, it is the king’s scathe.

29 

To be forbearing is to show great sense:

the height of folly is to be quick-tempered.

30 

A mind at ease is life and health,

but passion makes man rot away.

31 

He who is hard on the forlorn reviles his Maker:

he honours his Maker who is kindly to the poor.

31 

A bad man is brought down by his own evildoing,

but the good man may trust to his integrity.

32 

Wisdom settles in the mind of thoughtful men,

folly in the mind of the thoughtless.

34 

Integrity exalts a nation:

evil brings any people low.

35 

The king favours an able minister:

his anger is for the incompetent.