Proverbs 21

¹The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.

²All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart.

³To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.

⁴Haughty eyes and a proud heart—the guides of the wicked—are sin.

⁵The plans of the diligent bring plenty, as surely as haste leads to poverty.

⁶Making a fortune by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist, a deadly pursuit.

⁷The violence of the wicked will sweep them away because they refuse to do what is just.

⁸The way of a guilty man is crooked, but the conduct of the innocent is upright.

⁹Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁰The soul of the wicked man craves evil; his neighbor finds no favor in his eyes.

¹¹When a mocker is punished, the simple gain wisdom; and when a wise man is instructed, he acquires knowledge.

¹²The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked and brings the wicked to ruin.

¹³Whoever shuts his ears to the cry of the poor, he too shall cry out and receive no answer.

¹⁴A gift in secret soothes anger, and a covert bribe pacifies great wrath.

¹⁵Justice executed is a joy to the righteous, but a terror to the workers of iniquity.