Wisdom Loves Righteousness
13 A wise son heeds his father’s instruction,
But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
2 A man shall eat well by the fruit of his mouth,
But the soul of the unfaithful feeds on violence.
3 He who guards his mouth preserves his life,
But he who opens wide his lips shall have destruction.
4 The soul of a lazy man desires, and has nothing;
But the soul of the diligent shall be made rich.
5 A righteous man hates lying,
But a wicked man is loathsome and comes to shame.
6 Righteousness guards him whose way is blameless,
But wickedness overthrows the sinner.
7 There is one who makes himself rich, yet has nothing;
And one who makes himself poor, yet has great riches.
8 The ransom of a man’s life is his riches,
But the poor does not hear rebuke.
9 The light of the righteous rejoices,
But the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
10 By pride comes nothing but strife,
But with the well-advised is wisdom.
11 Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished,
But he who gathers by labor will increase.
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick,
But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
13 He who despises the word will be destroyed,
But he who fears the commandment will be rewarded.
14 The law of the wise is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death.
15 Good understanding a]”>[a]gains favor,
But the way of the unfaithful is hard.
16 Every prudent man acts with knowledge,
But a fool lays open his folly.
17 A wicked messenger falls into trouble,
But a faithful ambassador brings health.
18 Poverty and shame will come to him who b]”>[b]disdains correction,
But he who regards a rebuke will be honored.
19 A desire accomplished is sweet to the soul,
But it is an abomination to fools to depart from evil.
20 He who walks with wise men will be wise,
But the companion of fools will be destroyed.
21 Evil pursues sinners,
But to the righteous, good shall be repaid.
22 A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
But the wealth of the sinner is stored up for the righteous.
23 Much food is in the c]”>[c]fallow ground of the poor,
And for lack of justice there is d]”>[d]waste.
24 He who spares his rod hates his son,
But he who loves him disciplines him e]”>[e]promptly.
25 The righteous eats to the satisfying of his soul,
But the stomach of the wicked shall be in want.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 13:15 gives
- Proverbs 13:18 Lit. ignores
- Proverbs 13:23 uncultivated
- Proverbs 13:23 Lit. what is swept away
- Proverbs 13:24 early
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Lessons learnt:
A scoffer is a fool who rejects all guidance and never learns. A Christians we have to be wise and speak well because it brings blessings of many different kinds, including prosperity. We are admonished to mind the way we talk because when we speak out of context it could lead to destruction.
The chapter also talks about making riches in a dishonest and honest way, it also stated that the ones with dishonest wealth will have their wealth diminished, this may be because God’s blessing is not upon wealth gained by dishonesty or because such wealth was not gained by the habits of life that earn and retain wealth. God’s blessing is always with the man who gathers his wealth by working hard.
Chapter 13 made me to understand that Following the commands of God doesn’t mean no trials or travails will befall a believer, but it does mean that he will avoid a lot of the needless suffering and traps that those who love sin and violence create for themselves. Wickedness is not something that the wicked control, but their wickedness controls them. They are captives of the devil, and it will destroy them one way or the other eventually. The wages of sin is death
Proverbs 13 is a collection of sayings which, for the most part, employ antithetical parallelism. In terms of structure, there are certain catchwords that unite certain verses,
The chapter has a number of verses that focus on instruction and discipline. For example, verse 1 and 24 are both about a father training his son. Verse 24 says, “He who spares the rod hates his son, But he who loves him disciplines him early”. This verse reflects a standard view found in the Book of Proverbs, namely that corporal punishment is to be encouraged. Verse 24 also reflects the notion that a father’s punishment is a sign of love, “Do not reject the discipline of the LORD, my son; Do not abhor His rebuke. For whom the LORD loves, He rebukes,
In addition to accepting the discipline of a father, one is to accept the teachings of the wise. V. 20 says, “He who keeps company with the wise becomes wise, But he who consorts with dullards comes to grief,” and verse 14 says, “The instruction of a wise man is a fountain of life, Enabling one to avoid deadly snares
Besides for instruction/discipline, the chapter deals with various and disparate topics. For example, verse 3 says, “He who guards his tongue preserves his life; He who opens wide his lips, it is his ruin
A wise man’s talk brings him favour, but a fool’s lips are his undoing. His talk begins as silliness and ends as disastrous madness.
Verse 7 is an ancient way of saying “don’t judge a book by its cover”: “One man pretends to be rich and has nothing; Another professes to be poor and has much wealth.” It is similar in structure to verse 11:24: “One man gives generously and ends with more; Another stints on doing the right thing and incurs a loss.”
Verse 11 as, “Wealth may dwindle to less than nothing. But he who gathers little by little increases it. “Wealth gathered in haste counts for little. A dependable man will receive many blessings, But one in a hurry to get rich will not go unpunished.”
In verse 17 we again encounter the messenger: “Harm befalls a wicked messenger; A faithful courier brings healing”. Here the emphasis is upon the wicked character of the messenger who can distort the message, or even work deliberately against the will of the one who is trying to communicate with another.
This chapter 13 talks about godliness,wisdom, pride,laziness, wickedness etc.
Vs 1 talks about a child with knowledge will take heed to his fathers commandments and rules.
Vs 3 highlights wisdom and understanding in speech between the wise and foolish man.
Vs 4 interplay of lazy man who wishes but have nothing,but the hardworking will have plenty enough.
Vs 5 & 6 A godly loves truthfulness and his ways are blameless ,but wickedness ends in destruction.
Vs 7 the one who gives bountifully will never be poor and have more ,while the stingy will be more poorer.
Vs 9the knowledge of a godly person makes others happy,while the enlightenment of a bad man will make other be in bondage.
Vs 11 short cut riches will never stand the test of time,while that made via hard labour will multiply.
Vs 12 too long waiting for something can make someone unhappy.
Vs 13 Treasuring the word of God has a result.
Vs 14-16 Wisdom brings life,favor and is reflect in ones action while foolishness brings death.
Vs 17 truthfulness to God and any places you represent brings good health.
Vs 20 ones friend will determine ones survivor and destruction in life.
Vs 22 A good person leave substance for his generations.
Vs 24 One should not withdraw correction from his ward if he loves that child.
wise son will take advantage of the knowledge his own father has already accumulated and will accept instruction from his father. A boy’s father cares what happens to his son. He wants only the best for him. In fact, he wants his son to have a better life than he has had himself. If a son could learn this and take instruction from the father, he would be very wise indeed.
In the Old Testament, a rebellious son was to be taken to the edge of the city and stoned to death. This was a drastic measure, but I believe we are to see in that lesson that a person who will not be instructed is headed for destruction. Loving parents rebuke their children when they are in error. If the child does not learn from the rebuke, they are headed for serious trouble. The rod of correction can drive rebellion far from a child.
Proverbs 13
This chapter makes us understand that we should always seek wisdom as the benefits are numerous.
As Christians, when we are wise it makes us enjoy Gods riches, it further more proves to us the importance of being righteous and always seek our wealth and riches from God.
Sometimes God makes us go through some circumstances so that we can be stronger in him, like the way gold has to pass through fire to be beautiful and shiny that’s the same way Christian have to go through some life issues that would test our faith, during this time, we shouldn’t lose hope or think God isn’t watching us because at the end we would be satisfied and rejoice
Be a righteous soul attracts alot of benefit and blessings. It also connotes that begin disciplined by father (ones parent) doesn’t mean it’s act of wickedness but serves as correction from wrong to good so that one won’t get mislead
One thing we need to be sure of is our parents can’t misguide us and so we need to listen to their instructions.when we are been chastened by our parents then we should know they still love us same thing goes to our maker,the moment the Lord chastened us then we should know we are still God’s own.
We need to know that there is power in our tongue and that is why we should always be careful of what we speak out or wish for ourselves or to people. When our heart is clean and we speak good to ourselves good things will definitely come to us.
Generally, this chapter is telling us to be cautious of our mouth, be disciplined, righteous, hardworking,contented,humble and obedient. May God help us to understand His word and His teachings and also give us wisdom to hearken into it.
Wisdom is demonstrated by an ability to control what one says and when and to be able to be discrete when necessary. Not lashing out verbally or provoking others is smart because it will avoid putting ourselves in a position where people would want to harm us out of anger. Those who can’t keep secrets betray friends and maybe lose friends, and those who like to cast insults make many enemies. The wise person uses his mouth to encourage, heal, and promote peace……
This chapter is just telling us all we tend to gain when we follows God’s word and commandments. It is also telling us what we gain also when we disobey his words.
It also states that the only wealth that will last forever is the wealth from God. Whenever we try to gain wealth from dishonesty,cheating and all,the wealth will not last,it diminishes.
Overall,the chapter is just telling us to be honest,to watch what we say with our tongues cos there is power in our tongue,to be handworking,to be content with what we have and also to be obedient.
It tells us to always listen to corrections and also make ourselves low in anything we do, anything that has do with wickedness we should always depart from it and stay holy in Gods way and have the wisdom of God in you, because it attracts more blessing than been disobedient which brings nothing than shame and sorrow .