Proverbs 19
New Living Translation
19 Better to be poor and honest
than to be dishonest and a fool.
2 Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good;
haste makes mistakes.
3 People ruin their lives by their own foolishness
and then are angry at the Lord.
4 Wealth makes many “friends”;
poverty drives them all away.
5 A false witness will not go unpunished,
nor will a liar escape.
6 Many seek favors from a ruler;
everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!
7 The relatives of the poor despise them;
how much more will their friends avoid them!
Though the poor plead with them,
their friends are gone.
8 To acquire wisdom is to love yourself;
people who cherish understanding will prosper.
9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and a liar will be destroyed.
10 It isn’t right for a fool to live in luxury
or for a slave to rule over princes!
11 Sensible people control their temper;
they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.
12 The king’s anger is like a lion’s roar,
but his favor is like dew on the grass.
13 A foolish child[a] is a calamity to a father;
a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.
14 Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth,
but only the Lord can give an understanding wife.
15 Lazy people sleep soundly,
but idleness leaves them hungry.
16 Keep the commandments and keep your life;
despising them leads to death.
17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the Lord—
and he will repay you!
18 Discipline your children while there is hope.
Otherwise you will ruin their lives.
19 Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty.
If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.
20 Get all the advice and instruction you can,
so you will be wise the rest of your life.
21 You can make many plans,
but the Lord’s purpose will prevail.
22 Loyalty makes a person attractive.
It is better to be poor than dishonest.
23 Fear of the Lord leads to life,
bringing security and protection from harm.
24 Lazy people take food in their hand
but don’t even lift it to their mouth.
25 If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson;
if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser.
26 Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother
are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.
27 If you stop listening to instruction, my child,
you will turn your back on knowledge.
28 A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice;
the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.
29 Punishment is made for mockers,
and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.
Proverbs 19
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 19
1 Better to be poor and walk in integrity
than rich and crooked in one’s ways.(A)
2 Desire without knowledge is not good;
and whoever acts hastily, blunders.[a]
3 Their own folly leads people astray;
in their hearts they rage against the Lord.[b]
4 Wealth adds many friends,
but the poor are left friendless.(B)
5 The false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever utters lies will not escape.[c](C)
6 Many curry favor with a noble;
everybody is a friend of a gift giver.
7 All the kin of the poor despise them;
how much more do their friends shun them![d]
8 Those who gain sense truly love themselves;
those who preserve understanding will find success.[e]
9 The false witness will not go unpunished,
and whoever utters lies will perish.
10 Luxury is not befitting a fool;
much less should a slave rule over princes.
11 It is good sense to be slow to anger,
and an honor to overlook an offense.[f]
12 The king’s wrath is like the roar of a lion,
but his favor, like dew on the grass.[g](D)
13 The foolish son is ruin to his father,(E)
and a quarrelsome wife is water constantly dripping.[h]
14 Home and possessions are an inheritance from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.(F)
15 Laziness brings on deep sleep,
and the sluggard goes hungry.(G)
16 Those who keep commands keep their lives,
but those who despise these ways will die.(H)
17 Whoever cares for the poor lends to the Lord,(I)
who will pay back the sum in full.
18 Discipline your son, for there is hope;
but do not be intent on his death.[i](J)
19 A wrathful person bears the penalty;
after one rescue, you will have it to do again.
20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction,
that you may eventually become wise.
21 Many are the plans of the human heart,
but it is the decision of the Lord that endures.(K)
22 What is desired of a person is fidelity;
rather be poor than a liar.[j]
23 The fear of the Lord leads to life;
one eats and sleeps free from any harm.
24 The sluggard buries a hand in the dish;
not even lifting it to the mouth.(L)
25 Beat a scoffer and the naive learn a lesson;
rebuke the intelligent and they gain knowledge.(M)
26 Whoever mistreats a father or drives away a mother,
is a shameless and disgraceful child.[k](N)
27 My son, stop attending to correction;
start straying from words of knowledge.[l]
28 An unprincipled witness scoffs at justice,
and the mouth of the wicked pours out iniquity.
29 Rods are prepared for scoffers,
and blows for the backs of fools.(O)
Footnotes
- 19:2 When not guided by wisdom, appetite—or desire—is not good. “Running feet” (so the Hebrew) miss the mark, i.e., do not reach their destination.
- 19:3 One’s own folly destroys one’s life. It is an indication of that folly that one blames God rather than oneself.
- 19:5 The punishment fits the crime: those who abuse the legal system will be punished by the same system. They will not be acquitted.
- 19:7 Closely related to vv. 4 and 6. An observation, not without sympathy, on the social isolation of poor people.
- 19:8 Wisdom benefits the one who practices it.
- 19:11 The paradox is that one obtains one thing by giving up another.
- 19:12 An observation on the exercise of royal power. Both images suggest royal attitudes are beyond human control. Colon A is a variant of 20:2a and colon B of 16:15b.
- 19:13 One of many sayings about domestic happiness. The perspective is male; the two greatest pains to a father is a malicious son and an unsuitable wife. The immediately following saying is on the noble wife, perhaps to make a positive statement about women.
- 19:18 The pain of disciplining the young cannot be compared with the danger no discipline may bring. The chief reason for disciplining the young is their capacity to change; excluded thereby are revenge and punishment.
- 19:22 The proverb has been read in two ways: (1) “Desire (greed) is a shame to a person,” which assumes the rare Hebrew word for “shame” is being used; (2) “What is desired in a person is fidelity.” The second interpretation is preferable. The context may be the court: better to forego money (a bribe) than perjure oneself.
- 19:26 Children who disgrace the family equivalently plunder their father’s wealth and expel their mother from the home.
- 19:27 The meaning was disputed even in antiquity. The interpretation that most respects the syntax is to take it as ironic advice as in 22:6: to stop (listening) is to go (wandering).
Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Ang Bagong Tipan: Filipino Standard Version, Copyright © Philippine Bible Society 2009.
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