1. BETTER IS a dry morsel with quietness than a house full of feasting [on offered sacrifices] with strife.
2. A wise servant shall have rule over a son who causes shame, and shall share in the inheritance among the brothers.
3. The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tries the hearts. [Ps. 26:2; Prov. 27:21; Jer. 17:10; Mal. 3:3.]
4. An evildoer gives heed to wicked lips; and a liar listens to a mischievous tongue.
5. Whoever mocks the poor reproaches his Maker, and he who is glad at calamity shall not be held innocent or go unpunished. [Job 31:29; Prov. 14:31; Obad. 12.]
6. Children's children are the crown of old men, and the glory of children is their fathers. [Ps. 127:3; 128:3.]
7. Fine or arrogant speech does not befit [an empty-headed] fool–much less do lying lips befit a prince.
8. A bribe is like a bright, precious stone that dazzles the eyes and affects the mind of him who gives it; [as if by magic] he prospers, whichever way he turns.
9. He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends.
10. A reproof enters deeper into a man of understanding than a hundred lashes into a [self-confident] fool. [Isa. 32:6.]
11. An evil man seeks only rebellion; therefore a stern and pitiless messenger shall be sent against him.
12. Let [the brute ferocity of] a bear robbed of her whelps meet a man rather than a [self-confident] fool in his folly [when he is in a rage]. [Hos. 13:8.]
13. Whoever rewards evil for good, evil shall not depart from his house. [Ps. 109:4, 5; Jer. 18:20.]
14. The beginning of strife is as when water first trickles [from a crack in a dam]; therefore stop contention before it becomes worse and quarreling breaks out.
15. He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous are both an abomination [exceedingly disgusting and hateful] to the Lord. [Exod. 23:7; Prov. 24:24; Isa. 5:23.]