Proverbs

¹ and only get more stubborn, There'll come a day when life tumbles in and they break, but by then it'll be too late to help them.

² but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans.

³ but you'll destroy their trust if you run with whores.

⁴ an exploiting leader leaves a trail of waste.

⁵ he's probably planning to take advantage of you.

⁶ good people run the other way, glad to escape.

⁷ the hardhearted haven't the faintest idea.

⁸ a group of sages can calm everyone down.

⁹ gets only scorn and sarcasm for his trouble.

¹⁰ moral folks encourage them.

¹¹ a sage quietly mulls it over.

¹² all the workers get infected with evil.

¹³ they can both see—their sight, God's gift!

¹⁴ when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.

¹⁵ spoiled adolescents embarrass their parents.

¹⁶ but the righteous will eventually observe their collapse.

¹⁷ they'll turn out delightful to live with.

¹⁸ they stumble all over themselves; But when they attend to what he reveals, they are most blessed.

¹⁹ mere words go in one ear and out the other.

²⁰ even simpletons are better off than they are.

²¹ you'll be quite forgotten in the end.

²² the intemperate stir up trouble.

²³ humility prepares you for honors.

²⁴ and become an enemy to yourself. When the victims cry out, you'll be included in their curses if you're a coward to their cause in court.

²⁵ trusting in God protects you from that.

²⁶ but only God will give us justice.

²⁷ the wicked can't stand the sight of well-chosen goodness.