New International Reader's Version

Proverbs 17:20-27 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

20. If your heart is twisted, you won't succeed. If your tongue tells lies, you will get into trouble.

21. It is sad to have a foolish child. The parents of a foolish person have no joy.

22. A cheerful heart makes you healthy. But a broken spirit dries you up.

23. Anyone who does wrong accepts favors in secret. Then he turns what is right into wrong.

24. Anyone who understands what is right keeps wisdom in view. But the eyes of a foolish person look everywhere else.

25. A foolish child makes his father sad and his mother sorry.

26. It isn't good to punish those who aren't guilty. It isn't good to whip officials just because they are honest.

27. Anyone who has knowledge controls his words. A man who has understanding is not easily upset.