Proverbs

²²Plans fail for lack of counsel, but with many advisers they succeed. ²³A person finds joy in giving an apt reply— and how good is a timely word! ²⁴The path of life leads upward for the prudent to keep them from going down to the realm of the dead. ²⁵The Lord tears down the house of the proud, but he sets the widow’s boundary stones in place. ²⁶The Lord detests the thoughts of the wicked, but gracious words are pure in his sight. ²⁷The greedy bring ruin to their households, but the one who hates bribes will live. ²⁸The heart of the righteous weighs its answers, but the mouth of the wicked gushes evil.