Better a Dry Morsel in Quietness

1Better is a drye morsell with quietnesse, then a house full of fat offeryng with strife.

2A discrete seruaunt shall haue rule ouer a lewde sonne, and shal haue heritage with the brethren.

3As siluer is tryed in the fire, and golde in the furnace: so doth the Lorde proue the heartes.

4A wicked body geueth heede to false lippes, and a lyer geueth eare to a deceiptfull tongue.

5Who so scorneth the poore, blasphemeth his maker: and he that is glad at another mans hurt, shall not be vnpunished.

6Childers children are a crowne of the aged, and the fathers are the honour of the children.

7Speache of aucthoritie becommeth not a foole, much lesse a lying mouth then beseemeth a prince.

8A gyft is as a precious stone vnto hym that hath it: but vnto whom soeuer it turneth, it maketh hym vnwise.

9Who so couereth a fault, procureth loue: but he that discloseth it, deuideth very frendes.

10One reproofe more feareth a wise man, then an hundred stripes doth a foole.

11A seditious person seketh mischiefe, and a cruell messenger shalbe sent agaynst hym.

12It were better to meete a shee beare robbed of her whelpes, then a foole trusting in his foolishnesse.

13Who so rewardeth euill for good, euil shall not depart from his house.

14The beginning of strife is, as when a man maketh an issue for water: therfore leaue of before the contention be medled with.

15The Lorde hateth as well hym that iustifieth the vngodly, as him that condempneth the innocent.

16Whereto hath a foole treasure in his hande to bye wisdome, seeing he hath no minde therto?

17He is a frende that alway loueth, and in aduersitie a man shall knowe who is his brother.

18Who so promiseth by the hande and is suretie for his neighbour, he is a foole.

19He that delighteth in sinne, loueth strife: and who so setteth his doore to hye, seeketh destruction.

20Who so hath a frowarde heart, obteyneth no good: and he that hath a double tongue, shall fall into mischiefe.

21He that begetteth a foole, begetteth his sorowe: and the father of a foole can haue no ioy.

22A mery heart make a lustie age: but a sorowfull minde dryeth vp the bones.

23The vngodly taketh gyftes out of the bosome, to wrest the wayes of iudgement.

24Wisdome shineth in the face of hym that hath vnderstanding: but the eyes of fooles wander throughout al landes.

25An vndiscrete sonne is a griefe vnto his father: and an heauinesse vnto his mother.

26Certaynely to condempne the iust is not good: nor to strike the gouernours whiche iudge rightly.

27A wyse man vseth fewe wordes, and a man of vnderstanding is of a pacient spirite.

28Yea, a very foole when he holdeth his tongue is counted wise: and he that stoppeth his lippes is esteemed prudent.