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gracious lips

Proverbs 22:1-16 (JDV).

Proverbs 22:1 A good name is to be preferred to great wealth; favor is better than silver and gold.
Proverbs 22:2 Rich and poor have this in common: Yahveh makes them all.
Proverbs 22:3 A sensible person sees danger and takes cover, but the morally naive keep going and are punished.
Proverbs 22:4 Humility, the fear of Yahveh, results in wealth, honor, and life.
Proverbs 22:5 There are thorns and snares on the road of the crooked; the one who guards his throat stays far from them.
Proverbs 22:6 Start a youth out on his road; even when he grows old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:7 The rich rule over the poor, and the borrower is a slave to the lender.
Proverbs 22:8 The one who sows injustice will reap disaster, and the rod of his fury will be destroyed.
Proverbs 22:9 A generous person will be blessed, for he shares his food with the poor.
Proverbs 22:10 Drive out a mocker, and conflict goes too; then quarreling and dishonor will cease.
Proverbs 22:11 The one who loves a pure heart and gracious lips — the king is his friend.
Proverbs 22:12 Yahveh’s eyes keep watch over knowledge, but he overthrows the words of the treacherous.
Proverbs 22:13 The idler says, “There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!”
Proverbs 22:14 The mouth of the forbidden woman is a deep pit; a man cursed by Yahveh will fall into it.
Proverbs 22:15 Foolishness is bound to the heart of a youth; a rod of correction will separate it from him.
Proverbs 22:16 Oppressing the poor to enrich oneself and giving to the rich — both lead only to poverty.

gracious lips

Gracious lips — careful speech — is a quality that brings wise people good company. No matter who he is, a man with gracious lips will have the king as his friend. But ungracious lips (quarreling) is a curse upon those who have to endure it. Solomon urges his sons to stay away from men or women who cannot control their tongues. It is better to have fewer friends, than to have friends who are always tearing you apart by their words.

LORD, give us peaceful hearts and gracious lips.