New Living Translation (NLT)
Proverbs 21
5 Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.
6 Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.
7 The violence of the wicked sweeps them away, because they refuse to do what is just.
8 The guilty walk a crooked path; the innocent travel a straight road.
9 It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.
10 Evil people desire evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.
11 If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise; if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.
12 The Righteous One knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked; he will bring disaster on them.
13 Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.
14 A secret gift calms anger; a bribe under the table pacifies fury.
15 Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.