Proverbs 14:7-19

New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition

⁷ Leave the presence of a fool,
    for there you do not find words of knowledge.
⁸ It is the wisdom of the clever to understand where they go,
    but the folly of fools misleads.
⁹ Fools mock at the guilt offering,^[a]
    but the upright enjoy God’s favor.
¹⁰ The heart knows its own bitterness,
    and no stranger shares its joy.
¹¹ The house of the wicked is destroyed,
    but the tent of the upright flourishes.
¹² There is a way that seems right to a person,
    but its end is the way to death.^[b]
13 Even in laughter the heart is sad,
    and the end of joy is grief.
¹⁴ The perverse get what their ways deserve,
    and the good, what their deeds deserve.^[c]
15 The simple believe everything,
    but the clever consider their steps.
¹⁶ The wise are cautious and turn away from evil,
    but the fool throws off restraint and is careless.
¹⁷ One who is quick-tempered acts foolishly,
    and the schemer is hated.
¹⁸ The simple are adorned with^[d] folly,
    but the clever are crowned with knowledge.
¹⁹ The evil bow down before the good,
    the wicked at the gates of the righteous.