Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Reflections on Proverbs 13


    Proverbs 13 (Contemporary English Version)

  1. Children with good sense accept correction from their parents, but stubborn children ignore it completely.
  2. You will be well rewarded for saying something kind, but all some people think about is how to be cruel and mean.
  3. Keep what you know to yourself, and you will be safe; talk too much, and you are done for.
  4. No matter how much you want, laziness won't help a bit, but hard work will reward you with more than enough.
  5. A good person hates deceit, but those who are evil cause shame and disgrace.
  6. Live right, and you are safe! But sin will destroy you.
  7. Some who have nothing may pretend to be rich, and some who have everything may pretend to be poor.
  8. The rich may have to pay a ransom, but the poor don't have that problem.
  9. The lamp of a good person keeps on shining; the lamp of an evil person soon goes out.
  10. Too much pride causes trouble. Be sensible and take advice.
  11. Money wrongly gotten will disappear bit by bit; money earned little by little will grow and grow.
  12. Not getting what you want can make you feel sick, but a wish that comes true is a life-giving tree.
  13. If you reject God's teaching, you will pay the price; if you obey his commands, you will be rewarded.
  14. Sensible instruction is a life-giving fountain that helps you escape all deadly traps.
  15. Sound judgment is praised, but people without good sense are on the way to disaster.
  16. If you have good sense, you will act sensibly, but fools act like fools.
  17. Whoever delivers your message can make things better or worse for you.
  18. All who refuse correction will be poor and disgraced; all who accept correction will be praised.
  19. It's a good feeling to get what you want, but only a stupid fool hates to turn from evil.
  20. Wise friends make you wise, but you hurt yourself by going around with fools.
  21. You are in for trouble if you sin, but you will be rewarded if you live right.
  22. If you obey God, you will have something to leave your grandchildren. If you don't obey God, those who live right will get what you leave.
  23. Even when the land of the poor produces good crops, they get cheated out of what they grow.
  24. If you love your children, you will correct them; if you don't love them, you won't correct them.
  25. If you live right, you will have plenty to eat; if you don't live right, you will go away empty.


Solomon continues in this chapter to contrast the wise with the foolish, but he also provides some general good advice. His also continues to make his appeal that it is wise to accept instruction since this is how one gains wisdom. To despise instruction and not accept rebuke is not only foolish, it reveals a foolish heart that does not seek after what is best. If one wants to do well in life, desires to prosper (not especially to be rich), and wants to guard against ruin and disaster, here is Solomon's advice:
  • First of all, listen to advice and take it to heart
  • Secondly, guard your mouth. Learn to speak sparingly and to use the truth when you do speak. It is wise to know when to keep quiet and to not speaking rashly at all.
  • Choose your friends carefully. Walk with the wise and become wise or keep company with fools and become a fool. It determines the course of your life.
  • Be diligent. The good things in life are not acquired through laziness unless one stoops to fraud. But wealth gained through fraud will only dwindle. That which is gained through labor will be multiplied. These contrasting truths are a reflection, not on fate as much as on character. The character of the one who is willing to defraud people for his wealth has no proper value for things and will soon waste away whatever wealth he gains in this manner.
  • Value discipline. Self discipline causes one to accept rebuke, take instruction, labor for what he has, and to be diligent. The one who recognizes the wisdom of self discipline is the one who attains the so-called "good life." By so valuing discipline he also recognizes the wisdom of disciplining his children. Solomon states this truth rather strongly. Failing to discipline the son, using the rod if necessary, is to hate the son. What a blight on our society that we have lost our senses on this wisdom and become foolish. We have become so foolish on the topic that we cannot tell the difference between discipline and abuse. Therefore we have a generation of young people who have not been disciplined and who are not learning the ways of the wise.

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