Proverbs 13-15

Proverbs 13

¹A wise son is a lover of teaching, but the ears of the haters of authority are shut to sharp words.

²A man will get good from the fruit of his lips, but the desire of the false is for violent acts.

³He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.

⁴The hater of work does not get his desires, but the soul of the hard workers will be made fat.

⁵The upright man is a hater of false words: the evil-doer gets a bad name and is put to shame.

⁶Righteousness keeps safe him whose way is without error, but evil-doers are overturned by sin.

⁷A man may be acting as if he had wealth, but have nothing; another may seem poor, but have great wealth.

⁸A man will give his wealth in exchange for his life; but the poor will not give ear to sharp words.

⁹There is a glad dawn for the upright man, but the light of the sinner will be put out.

¹⁰The only effect of pride is fighting; but wisdom is with the quiet in spirit.

¹¹Wealth quickly got will become less; but he who gets a store by the work of his hands will have it increased.

¹²Hope put off is a weariness to the heart; but when what is desired comes, it is a tree of life.

¹³He who makes sport of the word will come to destruction, but the respecter of the law will be rewarded.

¹⁴The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life, turning men away from the nets of death.

¹⁵Wise behaviour gets approval, but the way of the false is their destruction.

¹⁶A sharp man does everything with knowledge, but a foolish man makes clear his foolish thoughts.

¹⁷A man taking false news is a cause of trouble, but he who gives news rightly makes things well.

¹⁸Need and shame will be the fate of him who is uncontrolled by training; but he who takes note of teaching will be honoured.

¹⁹To get one's desire is sweet to the soul, but to give up evil is disgusting to the foolish.

²⁰Go with wise men and be wise: but he who keeps company with the foolish will be broken.

²¹Evil will overtake sinners, but the upright will be rewarded with good.

²²The heritage of the good man is handed down to his children's children; and the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the upright man.

²³There is much food in the ploughed land of the poor; but it is taken away by wrongdoing.

²⁴He who keeps back his rod is unkind to his son: the loving father gives punishment with care.

²⁵The upright man has food to the full measure of his desire, but there will be no food for the stomach of evil-doers.

Proverbs 14

¹Wisdom is building her house, but the foolish woman is pulling it down with her hands.

²He who goes on his way in righteousness has before him the fear of the Lord; but he whose ways are twisted gives him no honour.

³In the mouth of the foolish man is a rod for his back, but the lips of the wise will keep them safe.

⁴Where there are no oxen, their food-place is clean; but much increase comes through the strength of the ox.

⁵A true witness does not say what is false, but a false witness is breathing out deceit.

⁶The hater of authority, searching for wisdom, does not get it; but knowledge comes readily to the open-minded man.

⁷Go away from the foolish man, for you will not see the lips of knowledge.

⁸The wisdom of the man of good sense makes his way clear; but the unwise behaviour of the foolish is deceit.

⁹In the tents of those hating authority there is error, but in the house of the upright man there is grace.

¹⁰No one has knowledge of a man's grief but himself; and a strange person has no part in his joy.

¹¹The house of the sinner will be overturned, but the tent of the upright man will do well.

¹²There is a way which seems straight before a man, but its end is the ways of death.

¹³Even while laughing the heart may be sad; and after joy comes sorrow.

¹⁴He whose heart is turned away will have the reward of his ways in full measure; but a good man will have the reward of his doings.

¹⁵The simple man has faith in every word, but the man of good sense gives thought to his footsteps.

¹⁶The wise man, fearing, keeps himself from evil; but the foolish man goes on in his pride, with no thought of danger.

¹⁷He who is quickly angry will do what is foolish, but the man of good sense will have quiet.

¹⁸Foolish behaviour is the heritage of the simple, but men of good sense are crowned with knowledge.

¹⁹The knees of the evil are bent before the good; and sinners go down in the dust at the doors of the upright.

²⁰The poor man is hated even by his neighbour, but the man of wealth has numbers of friends.

²¹He who has no respect for his neighbour is a sinner, but he who has pity for the poor is happy.

²²Will not the designers of evil come into error? But mercy and good faith are for the designers of good.

²³In all hard work there is profit, but talk only makes a man poor.

²⁴Their wisdom is a crown to the wise, but their foolish behaviour is round the head of the unwise.

²⁵A true witness is the saviour of lives; but he who says false things is a cause of deceit.

²⁶For him in whose heart is the fear of the Lord there is strong hope: and his children will have a safe place.

²⁷The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, by which one may be turned from the nets of death.

²⁸A king's glory is in the number of his people: and for need of people a ruler may come to destruction.

²⁹He who is slow to be angry has great good sense; but he whose spirit is over-quick gives support to what is foolish.

³⁰A quiet mind is the life of the body, but envy is a disease in the bones.

³¹He who is hard on the poor puts shame on his Maker; but he who has mercy on those who are in need gives him honour.

³²The sinner is overturned in his evil-doing, but the upright man has hope in his righteousness.

³³Wisdom has her resting-place in the mind of the wise, but she is not seen among the foolish.

³⁴By righteousness a nation is lifted up, but sin is a cause of shame to the peoples.

³⁵The king has pleasure in a servant who does wisely, but his wrath is against him who is a cause of shame.

Proverbs 15

¹By a soft answer wrath is turned away, but a bitter word is a cause of angry feelings.

²Knowledge is dropping from the tongue of the wise; but from the mouth of the foolish comes a stream of foolish words.

³The eyes of the Lord are in every place, keeping watch on the evil and the good.

⁴A comforting tongue is a tree of life, but a twisted tongue is a crushing of the spirit.

⁵A foolish man puts no value on his father's training; but he who has respect for teaching has good sense.

⁶In the house of the upright man there is a great store of wealth; but in the profits of the sinner there is trouble.

⁷The lips of the wise keep knowledge, but the heart of the foolish man is not right.

⁸The offering of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but the prayer of the upright man is his delight.

⁹The way of the evil-doer is disgusting to the Lord, but he who goes after righteousness is dear to him.

¹⁰There is bitter punishment for him who is turned from the way; and death will be the fate of the hater of teaching.

¹¹Before the Lord are the underworld and destruction: how much more, then, the hearts of the children of men!

¹²The hater of authority has no love for teaching: he will not go to the wise.

¹³A glad heart makes a shining face, but by the sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

¹⁴The heart of the man of good sense goes in search of knowledge, but foolish things are the food of the unwise.

¹⁵All the days of the troubled are evil; but he whose heart is glad has an unending feast.

¹⁶Better is a little with the fear of the Lord, than great wealth together with trouble.

¹⁷Better is a simple meal where love is, than a fat ox and hate with it.

¹⁸An angry man makes men come to blows, but he who is slow to get angry puts an end to fighting.

¹⁹Thorns are round the way of the hater of work; but the road of the hard worker becomes a highway.

²⁰A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish man has no respect for his mother.

²¹Foolish behaviour is joy to the unwise; but a man of good sense makes his way straight.

²²Where there are no wise suggestions, purposes come to nothing; but by a number of wise guides they are made certain.

²³A man has joy in the answer of his mouth: and a word at the right time, how good it is!

²⁴Acting wisely is the way of life, guiding a man away from the underworld.

²⁵The house of the man of pride will be uprooted by the Lord, but he will make safe the heritage of the widow.

²⁶Evil designs are disgusting to the Lord, but the words of the clean-hearted are pleasing.

²⁷He whose desires are fixed on profit is a cause of trouble to his family; but he who has no desire for offerings will have life.

²⁸The heart of the upright gives thought to his answer; but from the mouth of the evil-doer comes a stream of evil things.

²⁹The Lord is far from sinners, but his ear is open to the prayer of the upright.

³⁰The light of the eyes is a joy to the heart, and good news makes the bones fat.

³¹The man whose ear is open to the teaching of life will have his place among the wise.

³²He who will not be controlled by training has no respect for his soul, but he who gives ear to teaching will get wisdom.

³³The fear of the Lord is the teaching of wisdom; and a low opinion of oneself goes before honour.