1 A meal of bread and water in contented peace
is better than a banquet spiced with quarrels.
2 A wise servant takes charge of an unruly child
and is honored as one of the family.
3 As silver in a crucible and gold in a pan,
so our lives are refined by God.
4 Evil people relish malicious conversation;
the ears of liars itch for dirty gossip.
5 Whoever mocks poor people insults their Creator;
gloating over misfortune is a punishable crime.
6 Old people are distinguished by grandchildren;
children take pride in their parents.
7 We don’t expect eloquence from fools,
nor do we expect lies from our leaders.
8 Receiving a gift is like getting a rare gemstone;
any way you look at it, you see beauty refracted.
9 Overlook an offense and bond a friendship;
fasten on to a slight and—good-bye, friend!
10 A quiet rebuke to a person of good sense
does more than a whack on the head of a fool.
11 Criminals out looking for nothing but trouble
won’t have to wait long—they’ll meet it coming and going!
12 Better to meet a grizzly robbed of her cubs
than a fool hellbent on folly.
13 Those who return evil for good
will meet their own evil returning.
14 The start of a quarrel is like a leak in a dam,
so stop it before it bursts.
15 Whitewashing bad people and throwing mud on good people
are equally abhorrent to God.
16 What’s this? Fools out shopping for wisdom!
They wouldn’t recognize it if they saw it!
17 Friends love through all kinds of weather,
and families stick together in all kinds of trouble.
18 It’s stupid to try to get something for nothing,
or run up huge bills you can never pay.
19 The person who courts sin marries trouble;
build a wall, invite a burglar.
20 A bad motive can’t achieve a good end;
double-talk brings you double trouble.
21 Having a fool for a child is misery;
it’s no fun being the parent of a dolt.
22 A cheerful disposition is good for your health;
gloom and doom leave you bone-tired.
23 The wicked take bribes under the table;
they show nothing but contempt for justice.
24 The perceptive find wisdom in their own front yard;
fools look for it everywhere but right here.
25 A surly, stupid child is sheer pain to a father,
a bitter pill for a mother to swallow.
26 It’s wrong to penalize good behavior,
or make good citizens pay for the crimes of others.
27 The one who knows much says little;
an understanding person remains calm.
28 Even dunces who keep quiet are thought to be wise;
as long as they keep their mouths shut, they’re smart.
1 1-2 Those people are on a dark spiral downward. But if you think that leaves you on the high ground where you can point your finger at others, think again. Every time you criticize someone, you condemn yourself. It takes one to know one. Judgmental criticism of others is a well-known way of escaping detection in your own crimes and misdemeanors. But God isn’t so easily diverted. He sees right through all such smoke screens and holds you to what you’ve done.
3-4 You didn’t think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? Or did you think that because he’s such a nice God, he’d let you off the hook? Better think this one through from the beginning. God is kind, but he’s not soft. In kindness he takes us firmly by the hand and leads us into a radical life-change.
5-8 You’re not getting by with anything. Every refusal and avoidance of God adds fuel to the fire. The day is coming when it’s going to blaze hot and high, God’s fiery and righteous judgment. Make no mistake: In the end you get what’s coming to you—Real Life for those who work on God’s side, but to those who insist on getting their own way and take the path of least resistance, Fire!
9-11 If you go against the grain, you get splinters, regardless of which neighborhood you’re from, what your parents taught you, what schools you attended. But if you embrace the way God does things, there are wonderful payoffs, again without regard to where you are from or how you were brought up. Being a Jew won’t give you an automatic stamp of approval. God pays no attention to what others say (or what you think) about you. He makes up his own mind.
12-13 If you sin without knowing what you’re doing, God takes that into account. But if you sin knowing full well what you’re doing, that’s a different story entirely. Merely hearing God’s law is a waste of your time if you don’t do what he commands. Doing, not hearing, is what makes the difference with God.
14-16 When outsiders who have never heard of God’s law follow it more or less by instinct, they confirm its truth by their obedience. They show that God’s law is not something alien, imposed on us from without, but woven into the very fabric of our creation. There is something deep within them that echoes God’s yes and no, right and wrong. Their response to God’s yes and no will become public knowledge on the day God makes his final decision about every man and woman. The Message from God that I proclaim through Jesus Christ takes into account all these differences.
17-24 If you’re brought up Jewish, don’t assume that you can lean back in the arms of your religion and take it easy, feeling smug because you’re an insider to God’s revelation, a connoisseur of the best things of God, informed on the latest doctrines! I have a special word of caution for you who are sure that you have it all together yourselves and, because you know God’s revealed Word inside and out, feel qualified to guide others through their blind alleys and dark nights and confused emotions to God. While you are guiding others, who is going to guide you? I’m quite serious. While preaching “Don’t steal!” are you going to rob people blind? Who would suspect you? The same with adultery. The same with idolatry. You can get by with almost anything if you front it with eloquent talk about God and his law. The line from Scripture, “It’s because of you Jews that the outsiders frown on God,” shows it’s an old problem that isn’t going to go away.
25-29 Circumcision, the surgical ritual that marks you as a Jew, is great if you live in accord with God’s law. But if you don’t, it’s worse than not being circumcised. The reverse is also true: The uncircumcised who keep God’s ways are as good as the circumcised—in fact, better. Better to keep God’s law uncircumcised than break it circumcised. Don’t you see: It’s not the cut of a knife that makes a Jew. You become a Jew by who you are. It’s the mark of God on your heart, not of a knife on your skin, that makes a Jew. And recognition comes from God, not legalistic critics.
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