Add parallel Print Page Options

10 A rebuke strikes him who understands
    deeper than one hundred blows to a fool.
11 An evil person will seek only rebellion,
    and a cruel messenger will be sent against him.

Read full chapter

10 A rebuke cuts into a perceptive person
more than a hundred lashes into a fool.

11 An evil man seeks only rebellion;
a cruel messenger[a](A) will be sent against him.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 17:11 Or a merciless angel

20 Listen to advice and accept instruction
    so that you will gain wisdom for your future.[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:20 Literally “after things

20 Listen to counsel and receive instruction
so that you may be wise later in life.[a](A)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:20 Lit in your end

27 Cease to listen to instruction, my child,
    and you will stray[a] from sayings of knowledge.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 19:27 Literally “in order to stray”

27 If you stop listening to correction, my son,
you will stray from the words of knowledge.

Read full chapter

Roaring like the lion is the dreaded anger of a king;
    he who provokes him forfeits his life.[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:2 Or “soul,” or “inner self”

A king’s terrible wrath is like the roaring of a lion;
anyone who provokes him endangers himself.(A)

Read full chapter

Many a person will proclaim his loyalty for himself,
    but a man who is trustworthy, who can find?

Read full chapter

Many a man proclaims his own loyalty,
but who can find a trustworthy man?(A)

Read full chapter

A king who sits on the throne of judgment
    winnows all evil with his eyes.

Read full chapter

A king sitting on a throne to judge
sifts out all evil with his eyes.(A)

Read full chapter

11 Even by his acts, a young man[a] will make himself known,
    whether his acts are pure and upright.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:11 Or “young boy,” or “adolescent”

11 Even a young man is known by his actions—
if his behavior is pure and upright.(A)

Read full chapter

30 The blows of a wound will cleanse evil,
    as will[a] beatings of the innermost part.[b]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:30 Hebrew “and”
  2. Proverbs 20:30 Literally “parts of the inmost”

30 Lashes and wounds purge away evil,(A)
and beatings cleanse the innermost parts.[a]

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 20:30 Lit beatings the chambers of the belly

21 Streams of water are the heart[a] of a king in the hand of Yahweh;
    wherever[b] he will desire, he will turn.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:1 Or “mind”
  2. Proverbs 21:1 Literally “upon all that”

21 A king’s heart is like streams of water in the Lord’s hand:
He directs it wherever He chooses.(A)

Read full chapter

11 He who loves purity of heart
    and hasgracious speech,[a] his friend is the king.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 22:11 Literally “grace of his lips”

11 The one who loves a pure heart
and gracious lips—the king is his friend.(A)

Read full chapter

The glory of God[a] conceals things,
    but the glory of kings searches out things.
As heaven is to height and the earth is to depth,
    so is the heart[b] of kings—there is no searching.
Remove the dross from silver,
    and it will become a vessel for the smith.
Remove the wicked before a king,
    and his throne will be established in righteousness.[c]
Do not promote yourself before the king,
    and in the place of the great ones do not stand.
For it is better that he say to you, “Ascend here,”
    than he humble you before a noble.
What your eyes have seen,

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:2 Or “gods”
  2. Proverbs 25:3 Or “mind”
  3. Proverbs 25:5 Hebrew “in the righteousness”

It is the glory of God to conceal a matter(A)
and the glory of kings to investigate a matter.
As the heaven is high and the earth is deep,
so the hearts of kings cannot be investigated.

Remove impurities from silver,(B)
and a vessel will be produced[a] for a silversmith.(C)
Remove the wicked from the king’s presence,(D)
and his throne will be established in righteousness.(E)

Don’t brag about yourself before the king,
and don’t stand in the place of the great;
for it is better for him to say to you, “Come up here!”
than to demote you in plain view of a noble.[b](F)

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 25:4 Lit will come out; Ex 32:24
  2. Proverbs 25:7 Lit you before a noble whom your eyes see

18 He who tends a fig tree will eat its fruit,
    and he who guards his master[a] will be honored.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 27:18 Or “lord”

18 Whoever tends a fig tree(A) will eat its fruit,(B)
and whoever looks after his master will be honored.

Read full chapter