Proverbs

³To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. [I Sam. 15:22; Prov. 15:8; Isa. 1:11; Hos. 6:6; Mic. 6:7, 8.] ⁴Haughtiness of eyes and a proud heart, even the tillage of the wicked or the lamp [of joy] to them [whatever it may be], are sin [in the eyes of God]. ⁵The thoughts of the [steadily] diligent tend only to plenteousness, but everyone who is impatient and hasty hastens only to want. ⁶Securing treasures by a lying tongue is a vapor driven to and fro; those who seek them seek death. ⁷The violence of the wicked shall sweep them away, because they refuse to do justice. ⁸The way of the guilty is exceedingly crooked, but as for the pure, his work is right and his conduct is straight. ⁹It is better to dwell in a corner of the housetop [on the flat oriental roof, exposed to all kinds of weather] than in a house shared with a nagging, quarrelsome, and faultfinding woman.