New International Reader's Version

Proverbs 21:4-18 New International Reader's Version (NIRV)

4. Proud eyes and a proud heart are the lamp of sinful people. But those things are evil.

5. The plans of people who work hard succeed. You can be sure that those in a hurry will become poor.

6. A fortune made by people who tell lies amounts to nothing and leads to death.

7. The harmful things that evil people do will drag them away. They refuse to do what is right.

8. The path of those who are guilty is crooked. But the conduct of those who are not guilty is honest.

9. It is better to live on a corner of a roof than to share a house with a nagging wife.

10. A sinful person longs to do evil. He doesn't show his neighbor any mercy.

11. When you punish someone who makes fun of others, childish people get wise. If you teach a person who is already wise, he will get even more knowledge.

12. The Blameless One knows where sinners live. And he destroys them.

13. If you refuse to listen to the cries of poor people, you too will cry out and not be answered.

14. A secret gift calms anger down. A hidden favor softens great anger.

15. When you do what is fair, you make godly people glad. But you terrify those who do what is evil.

16. A man who leaves the path of understanding ends up with those who are dead.

17. Anyone who loves pleasure will become poor. Anyone who loves wine and oil will never be rich.

18. Those who do what is evil pay the price for setting godly people free. Those who aren't faithful pay the price for honest people.