Proverbs 11:1-31 GNT

[1] The LORD hates people who use dishonest scales. He is happy with honest weights. [2] People who are proud will soon be disgraced. It is wiser to be modest. [3] If you are good, you are guided by honesty. People who can't be trusted are destroyed by their own dishonesty. [4] Riches will do you no good on the day you face death, but honesty can save your life. [5] Honesty makes a good person's life easier, but the wicked will cause their own downfall. [6] Righteousness rescues those who are honest, but those who can't be trusted are trapped by their own greed. [7] When the wicked die, their hope dies with them. Confidence placed in riches comes to nothing. [8] The righteous are protected from trouble; it comes to the wicked instead. [9] You can be ruined by the talk of godless people, but the wisdom of the righteous can save you. [10] A city is happy when honest people have good fortune, and there are joyful shouts when the wicked die. [11] A city becomes great when the righteous give it their blessing; but a city is brought to ruin by the words of the wicked. [12] It is foolish to speak scornfully of others. If you are smart, you will keep quiet. [13] No one who gossips can be trusted with a secret, but you can put confidence in someone who is trustworthy. [14] A nation will fall if it has no guidance. Many advisers mean security. [15] If you promise to pay a stranger's debt, you will regret it. You are better off if you don't get involved. [16] A gracious woman is respected, but a woman without virtue is a disgrace. Lazy people will never have money, but aggressive people will get rich. [17] You do yourself a favor when you are kind. If you are cruel, you only hurt yourself. [18] Wicked people do not really gain anything, but if you do what is right, you are certain to be rewarded. [19] Anyone who is determined to do right will live, but anyone who insists on doing wrong will die. [20] The LORD hates evil-minded people, but loves those who do right. [21] You can be sure that evil people will be punished, but the righteous will escape. [22] Beauty in a woman without good judgment is like a gold ring in a pig's snout. [23] What good people want always results in good; when the wicked get what they want, everyone is angry. [24] Some people spend their money freely and still grow richer. Others are cautious, and yet grow poorer. [25] Be generous, and you will be prosperous. Help others, and you will be helped. [26] People curse someone who hoards grain, waiting for a higher price, but they praise the one who puts it up for sale. [27] If your goals are good, you will be respected, but if you are looking for trouble, that is what you will get. [28] Those who depend on their wealth will fall like the leaves of autumn, but the righteous will prosper like the leaves of summer. [29] Those who bring trouble on their families will have nothing at the end. Foolish people will always be servants to the wise. [30] Righteousness gives life, but violence takes it away. [31] Those who are good are rewarded here on earth, so you can be sure that wicked and sinful people will be punished.