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Proverbs 10
Lexham English Bible
Proverbs 10
Lexham English Bible
Proverbs of Solomon
10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise child makes a father glad,
but a foolish child grieves his mother.
2 Treasures of wickedness do not profit,
but righteousness delivers from death.
3 Yahweh will not cause a righteous person[a] to go hungry,
but the craving of the wicked he will thwart.
4 A slack hand causes poverty,
but the hand of the diligent enriches.
5 He who gathers in the summer is a child who is prudent;
he who sleeps at the harvest is a child who brings shame.
6 Blessings belong to the head of the righteous,
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
7 The memory of righteousness is like a blessing,
but the name of the wicked will rot.
8 A heart of wisdom will heed commandments,
but a babbling fool will come to ruin.
9 Whoever walks in integrity[b] will walk securely,
but whoever follows perversity, his ways will be made known.
10 The winking of an eye causes[c] trouble,
and the foolishness of lips comes to ruin.
11 A fountain of life is a mouth of righteousness,
and a mouth of wickedness conceals violence.
12 Hatred stirs up strife,
but love covers over all offenses.
13 On the lips of one who has understanding, wisdom is found,
but a rod is for the back of one who lacks sense.[d]
14 Those who are wise lay up knowledge,
but to the mouth of the fool, ruin draws near.
15 The wealth of the rich is the city of his strength;
the ruin of the poor is their poverty.
16 The wage of the righteous leads to life;
the gain of the wicked to sin.
17 On the path to life is he who guards instruction,
but he who rejects rebuke goes astray.
18 He who conceals hatred has lips of deceit,
and he who utters slander—he is a fool.
19 In many words, transgression is not lacking,
but he who restrains his lips is prudent.
20 Choice silver is a tongue of righteousness,
a heart[e] of wickedness is of little worth.[f]
21 Lips of righteousness feed many,
but fools die for lack of sense.[g]
22 The blessing of Yahweh makes one rich,
and he does not increase sorrow with it.
23 It is like a sport for a fool to do wrong,
wisdom for a person of understanding.
24 The dread of the wicked will come upon him,
but the desire of the righteous will be granted.
25 With the passing of the tempest, there is no wickedness,
but the righteous have a foundation forever.
26 Like vinegar to the tooth and like smoke to the eyes,
thus is the lazy to one who employs[h] him.
27 The fear of Yahweh adds life,
but the years of the wicked are shortened.
28 The hope of the righteous is gladness,
but the expectation of the wicked comes to nothing.
29 A stronghold for the upright is the way of Yahweh,
but ruin belongs to evildoers.[i]
30 The righteous one is forever; he will not be removed.
But the wicked will not remain in the land.[j]
31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
but a tongue of perversity will be cut off.
32 The lips of the righteous know the acceptable,
but the mouth of the wicked, the perverse.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 10:3 Or “soul,” or “inner self”
- Proverbs 10:9 Hebrew “in the integrity”
- Proverbs 10:10 Or “gives, sets up”
- Proverbs 10:13 Literally “heart”
- Proverbs 10:20 Or “mind”
- Proverbs 10:20 Literally “like a little”
- Proverbs 10:21 Literally “in the lack of heart, they die”
- Proverbs 10:26 Or “sends”
- Proverbs 10:29 Literally “them who do evil”
- Proverbs 10:30 Or “earth”
Proverbs 10
The Voice
Proverbs 10
The Voice
10 The proverbs of Solomon:
A wise son makes his father glad,
but a foolish one fills his mother with sorrow.
Solomon’s proverbs were originally short, pithy, easily remembered sayings brought together around certain themes. They started as oral traditions and were eventually written in a Hebrew poetic form known as parallelism. Chapters 10–15 are dominated by antithetical parallelism, meaning a statement is made in line 1 and then contrasted in line 2. Chapters 16–22 contain both synonymous and synthetic parallelism. In synonymous parallelism, the ideas in line 1 are repeated in line 2 using different words. In synthetic parallelism, later lines serve to expand, define, and elaborate the first lines.
2 Riches gained through dishonest means will eventually vanish,
but doing what is right avoids a deadly consequence.
3 The Eternal does not allow the right-living to go hungry,
but He will frustrate the plans of the wicked.
4 A slack hand produces nothing but poverty,
but an industrious hand soon takes hold of riches.
5 A wise son stores up for the winter months while it is still summer,
but a shameful son lies around even during the harvest.
6 Blessings come to those who do what is right,
but words spoken by the wicked cover up violent schemes.
7 The memory of one who lived with integrity brings joy,
but the legacy of a wrongdoer will rot away.
8 The wise at heart will gladly obey direction,
but one who fills the air with meaningless talk will fall into ruin.
9 The path of integrity is always safe,
but a person who follows a crooked way will be exposed.
10 Whoever winks his eye signals trouble,
and whoever fills the air with meaningless talk will fall into ruin.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life,
but words spoken by the wicked cover up violent schemes.
12 Hatred fuels dissension,
but love calms all rebellions.
13 Wisdom lives where insightful words are spoken,
but harsh punishment awaits the senseless.
14 The wise store up knowledge as a safeguard,
but the meaningless chatter of fools means that chaos is near.
15 The wealth of the rich is their powerful fortress;
the poverty of the poor reduces them to rubble.
16 The reward of those who do right is a satisfied life,
but the profits gained by those who do wrong is used to sin.
17 Those who accept instruction are travelers on the road to a meaningful life,
but those who refuse correction wander off and pave a path to ruin.
18 Lips that lie cover deep-seated hatred,
and whoever spreads a libelous rumor is acting as a fool.
19 The more you talk, the more likely you will cross the line and say the wrong thing;
but if you are wise, you’ll speak less and with restraint.
20 The speech of those who do right is of greater value than the finest silver,
but the thoughts of wrongdoers are worthless.
21 The right-living teach many,
but fools die with no clue how to live well.
Perhaps the ancients knew the power of words better than we do. Words can conceal, reveal, destroy, and encourage. Words are extremely powerful, so Wisdom urges us to use a few carefully chosen words and to pick our conversations equally well.
22 The blessing of the Eternal is what makes someone rich,
and He doesn’t add pain to it.
23 Mischief is the sport of fools,
but wise actions bring joy to a person with insight.
24 Whatever wrongdoers fear the most will happen to them,
but those who do right will receive what they long for.
25 After the storm passes, the wrongdoers are blown away,
but those who do right are safe and sound on their firm foundations forever.
26 As vinegar vexes the teeth, and as smoke irritates the eyes,
so a slacker annoys his boss.
27 Reverence for the Eternal makes for a long and peaceful life,
but a wrongdoer will have years taken away.
28 The hope of those who do right is joy and celebration,
but the only prospect for those who do wrong is futility.
29 The way of the Eternal offers safety to those who love justice,
but it destroys those who perpetrate evil.
30 The right-living will never have their land taken away,
but wrongdoers will be uprooted.
31 Wisdom flows from the mouths of those who do right,
but tongues that twist the truth will be cut out.
32 The lips of the right-living understand what is proper,
but the mouths of wrongdoers twist and pervert the truth.
Proverbs 10
New International Version
Proverbs 10
New International Version
Proverbs of Solomon
10 The proverbs(A) of Solomon:(B)
A wise son brings joy to his father,(C)
but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.
5 He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,
but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.(J)
8 The wise in heart accept commands,
but a chattering fool comes to ruin.(O)
9 Whoever walks in integrity(P) walks securely,(Q)
but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.(R)
10 Whoever winks maliciously(S) causes grief,
and a chattering fool comes to ruin.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,(T)
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.(U)
12 Hatred stirs up conflict,
but love covers over all wrongs.(V)
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,(W)
but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense.(X)
17 Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life,(AE)
but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.
18 Whoever conceals hatred with lying lips(AF)
and spreads slander is a fool.
19 Sin is not ended by multiplying words,
but the prudent hold their tongues.(AG)
20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver,
but the heart of the wicked is of little value.
21 The lips of the righteous nourish many,
but fools die for lack of sense.(AH)
23 A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes,(AL)
but a person of understanding delights in wisdom.
28 The prospect of the righteous is joy,
but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.(AV)
29 The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless,
but it is the ruin of those who do evil.(AW)
30 The righteous will never be uprooted,
but the wicked will not remain in the land.(AX)
Footnotes
- Proverbs 10:6 Or righteous, / but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence
- Proverbs 10:7 See Gen. 48:20.
Lexham English Bible (LEB)
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The Voice (VOICE)
The Voice Bible Copyright © 2012 Thomas Nelson, Inc. The Voice™ translation © 2012 Ecclesia Bible Society All rights reserved.
New International Version (NIV) 
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
NIV Reverse Interlinear Bible: English to Hebrew and English to Greek. Copyright © 2019 by Zondervan.