English Standard Version

Proverbs 17:7-12 English Standard Version (ESV)

7. Fine speech is not becoming to a fool;still less is false speech to a prince.

8. A bribe is like a magic stone in the eyes of the one who gives it;wherever he turns he prospers.

9. Whoever covers an offense seeks love,but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.

10. A rebuke goes deeper into a man of understandingthan a hundred blows into a fool.

11. An evil man seeks only rebellion,and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

12. Let a man meet a she-bear robbed of her cubs rather than a fool in his folly.