A gentle answer deflects anger, but harsh words make tempers flare.

回答柔和，使怒消退；言语暴戾，触动怒气。

回答柔和，使怒消退；言语粗暴，触动怒气。

回答柔和，使怒消退；言语粗暴，触动怒气。

温和的回答平息怒气，粗暴的言词激起愤怒。

柔和的回答使烈怒消退，暴戾的话激动怒气。

温和的回答，使怒火消退；尖刻的话语，会激起怒气。

回答柔和，使怒消退；言語暴戾，觸動怒氣。

回答柔和，使怒消退；言語粗暴，觸動怒氣。

回答柔和，使怒消退；言語粗暴，觸動怒氣。

溫和的回答平息怒氣，粗暴的言詞激起憤怒。

柔和的回答使烈怒消退，暴戾的話激動怒氣。

柔和的回答使烈怒消退；傷人的話語能激起忿怒。

溫和的回答，使怒火消退；尖刻的話語，會激起怒氣。

溫和之應對息忿、暴厲之言詞激怒、

其言也溫、可以息怒、其辭也厲、足以激變。

答言溫和則息怒、語言暴戾則激怒、

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

A gentle answer turns anger away. But mean words stir up anger.

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

A soft answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.

A soft answer turneth away wrath; But a grievous word stirreth up anger.

A gentle answer turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

A soft answer turneth away wrath: but grievous words stir up anger.

A gentle response turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath.

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Patience can persuade a prince, and soft speech can break bones.

An angry person starts fights; a hot tempered person commits all kinds of sin.

A hot tempered person starts fights; a cool tempered person stops them.

Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love makes up for all offenses.

Greed causes fighting; trusting the Lord leads to prosperity.

But Rehoboam spoke harshly to the people, for he rejected the advice of the older counselorsand followed the counsel of his younger advisers. He told the people,“ My father laid heavy burdens on you, but I’m going to make them even heavier! My father beat you with whips, but I will beat you with scorpions!”So the king paid no attention to the people. This turn of events was the will of the Lord, for it fulfilled the Lord’s message to Jeroboam son of Nebat through the prophet Ahijah from Shiloh.When all Israel realized that the king had refused to listen to them, they responded,“ Down with the dynasty of David! We have no interest in the son of Jesse. Back to your homes, O Israel! Look out for your own house, O David!” So the people of Israel returned home.

Then the people of Ephraim asked Gideon,“ Why have you treated us this way? Why didn’t you send for us when you first went out to fight the Midianites?” And they argued heatedly with Gideon.But Gideon replied,“ What have I accomplished compared to you? Aren’t even the leftover grapes of Ephraim’s harvest better than the entire crop of my little clan of Abiezer?God gave you victory over Oreb and Zeeb, the commanders of the Midianite army. What have I accomplished compared to that?” When the men of Ephraim heard Gideon’s answer, their anger subsided.

David had just been saying,“ A lot of good it did to help this fellow. We protected his flocks in the wilderness, and nothing he owned was lost or stolen. But he has repaid me evil for good.May God strike me and kill me if even one man of his household is still alive tomorrow morning!”When Abigail saw David, she quickly got off her donkey and bowed low before him.She fell at his feet and said,“ I accept all blame in this matter, my lord. Please listen to what I have to say.I know Nabal is a wicked and ill tempered man; please don’t pay any attention to him. He is a fool, just as his name suggests. But I never even saw the young men you sent.“ Now, my lord, as surely as the Lord lives and you yourself live, since the Lord has kept you from murdering and taking vengeance into your own hands, let all your enemies and those who try to harm you be as cursed as Nabal is.And here is a present that I, your servant, have brought to you and your young men.Please forgive me if I have offended you in any way. The Lord will surely reward you with a lasting dynasty, for you are fighting the Lord’s battles. And you have not done wrong throughout your entire life.“ Even when you are chased by those who seek to kill you, your life is safe in the care of the Lord your God, secure in his treasure pouch! But the lives of your enemies will disappear like stones shot from a sling!When the Lord has done all he promised and has made you leader of Israel,don’t let this be a blemish on your record. Then your conscience won’t have to bear the staggering burden of needless bloodshed and vengeance. And when the Lord has done these great things for you, please remember me, your servant!”David replied to Abigail,“ Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has sent you to meet me today!Thank God for your good sense! Bless you for keeping me from murder and from carrying out vengeance with my own hands.

“ Who is this fellow David?” Nabal sneered to the young men.“ Who does this son of Jesse think he is? There are lots of servants these days who run away from their masters.Should I take my bread and my water and my meat that I’ve slaughtered for my shearers and give it to a band of outlaws who come from who knows where?”So David’s young men returned and told him what Nabal had said.“ Get your swords!” was David’s reply as he strapped on his own. Then 400 men started off with David, and 200 remained behind to guard their equipment.

So when I realized you weren’t coming, I risked my life and went to battle without you, and the Lord gave me victory over the Ammonites. So why have you now come to fight me?”The people of Ephraim responded,“ You men of Gilead are nothing more than fugitives from Ephraim and Manasseh.” So Jephthah gathered all the men of Gilead and attacked the men of Ephraim and defeated them.Jephthah captured the shallow crossings of the Jordan River, and whenever a fugitive from Ephraim tried to go back across, the men of Gilead would challenge him.“ Are you a member of the tribe of Ephraim?” they would ask. If the man said,“ No, I’m not,”they would tell him to say“ Shibboleth.” If he was from Ephraim, he would say“ Sibboleth,” because people from Ephraim cannot pronounce the word correctly. Then they would take him and kill him at the shallow crossings of the Jordan. In all, 42,000 Ephraimites were killed at that time.

“ But there are ten tribes in Israel,” the others replied.“ So we have ten times as much right to the king as you do. What right do you have to treat us with such contempt? Weren’t we the first to speak of bringing him back to be our king again?” The argument continued back and forth, and the men of Judah spoke even more harshly than the men of Israel.