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18 If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace;
    if you accept correction, you will be honored.

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18 Whoever disregards discipline comes to poverty and shame,(A)
    but whoever heeds correction is honored.(B)

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Only a fool despises a parent’s[a] discipline;
    whoever learns from correction is wise.

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Footnotes

  1. 15:5 Hebrew father’s.

A fool spurns a parent’s discipline,
    but whoever heeds correction shows prudence.(A)

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31 If you listen to constructive criticism,
    you will be at home among the wise.

32 If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself;
    but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.

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31 Whoever heeds life-giving correction
    will be at home among the wise.(A)

32 Those who disregard discipline despise themselves,(B)
    but the one who heeds correction gains understanding.(C)

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12 To learn, you must love discipline;
    it is stupid to hate correction.

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12 Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge,
    but whoever hates correction is stupid.(A)

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12 To one who listens, valid criticism
    is like a gold earring or other gold jewelry.

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12 Like an earring of gold or an ornament of fine gold
    is the rebuke of a wise judge to a listening ear.(A)

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13 People who despise advice are asking for trouble;
    those who respect a command will succeed.

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13 Whoever scorns instruction will pay for it,(A)
    but whoever respects(B) a command is rewarded.(C)

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Instruct the wise,
    and they will be even wiser.
Teach the righteous,
    and they will learn even more.

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Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still;
    teach the righteous and they will add to their learning.(A)

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Many seek favors from a ruler;
    everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

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Many curry favor with a ruler,(A)
    and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.(B)

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If you do, you will lose your honor
    and will lose to merciless people all you have achieved.
10 Strangers will consume your wealth,
    and someone else will enjoy the fruit of your labor.
11 In the end you will groan in anguish
    when disease consumes your body.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    If only I had not ignored all the warnings!
13 Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers?
    Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?
14 I have come to the brink of utter ruin,
    and now I must face public disgrace.”

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lest you lose your honor to others
    and your dignity[a] to one who is cruel,
10 lest strangers feast on your wealth
    and your toil enrich the house of another.(A)
11 At the end of your life you will groan,
    when your flesh and body are spent.
12 You will say, “How I hated discipline!
    How my heart spurned correction!(B)
13 I would not obey my teachers
    or turn my ear to my instructors.
14 And I was soon in serious trouble(C)
    in the assembly of God’s people.”(D)

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 5:9 Or years

25 Be careful that you do not refuse to listen to the One who is speaking. For if the people of Israel did not escape when they refused to listen to Moses, the earthly messenger, we will certainly not escape if we reject the One who speaks to us from heaven!

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25 See to it that you do not refuse(A) him who speaks.(B) If they did not escape when they refused him who warned(C) them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?(D)

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Lord, you are searching for honesty.
You struck your people,
    but they paid no attention.
You crushed them,
    but they refused to be corrected.
They are determined, with faces set like stone;
    they have refused to repent.

Then I said, “But what can we expect from the poor?
    They are ignorant.
They don’t know the ways of the Lord.
    They don’t understand God’s laws.
So I will go and speak to their leaders.
    Surely they know the ways of the Lord
    and understand God’s laws.”
But the leaders, too, as one man,
    had thrown off God’s yoke
    and broken his chains.
So now a lion from the forest will attack them;
    a wolf from the desert will pounce on them.
A leopard will lurk near their towns,
    tearing apart any who dare to venture out.
For their rebellion is great,
    and their sins are many.

“How can I pardon you?
    For even your children have turned from me.
They have sworn by gods that are not gods at all!
    I fed my people until they were full.
But they thanked me by committing adultery
    and lining up at the brothels.
They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
    each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
Should I not punish them for this?” says the Lord.
    “Should I not avenge myself against such a nation?

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Lord, do not your eyes(A) look for truth?
    You struck(B) them, but they felt no pain;
    you crushed them, but they refused correction.(C)
They made their faces harder than stone(D)
    and refused to repent.(E)
I thought, “These are only the poor;
    they are foolish,(F)
for they do not know(G) the way of the Lord,
    the requirements of their God.
So I will go to the leaders(H)
    and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the Lord,
    the requirements of their God.”
But with one accord they too had broken off the yoke
    and torn off the bonds.(I)
Therefore a lion from the forest(J) will attack them,
    a wolf from the desert will ravage(K) them,
a leopard(L) will lie in wait near their towns
    to tear to pieces any who venture out,
for their rebellion is great
    and their backslidings many.(M)

“Why should I forgive you?
    Your children have forsaken me
    and sworn(N) by gods that are not gods.(O)
I supplied all their needs,
    yet they committed adultery(P)
    and thronged to the houses of prostitutes.(Q)
They are well-fed, lusty stallions,
    each neighing for another man’s wife.(R)
Should I not punish them for this?”(S)
    declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge(T) myself
    on such a nation as this?

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Let the godly strike me!
    It will be a kindness!
If they correct me, it is soothing medicine.
    Don’t let me refuse it.

But I pray constantly
    against the wicked and their deeds.

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Let a righteous man strike me—that is a kindness;
    let him rebuke me(A)—that is oil on my head.(B)
My head will not refuse it,
    for my prayer will still be against the deeds of evildoers.

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