Proverbs Challenge – Chapter 14

The Ways of Life and Death

14 The wise woman builds her house,
But the foolish pulls it down with her hands.

He who walks in his uprightness fears the Lord,
But he who is perverse in his ways despises Him.

In the mouth of a fool is a rod of pride,
But the lips of the wise will preserve them.

Where no oxen are, the [a]trough is clean;
But much increase comes by the strength of an ox.

A faithful witness does not lie,
But a false witness will utter lies.

A scoffer seeks wisdom and does not find it,
But knowledge is easy to him who understands.
Go from the presence of a foolish man,
When you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge.
The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way,
But the folly of fools is deceit.

Fools mock at [b]sin,
But among the upright there is favor.

10 The heart knows its own bitterness,
And a stranger does not share its joy.

11 The house of the wicked will be overthrown,
But the tent of the upright will flourish.

12 There is a way that seems right to a man,
But its end is the way of death.

13 Even in laughter the heart may sorrow,
And the end of mirth may be grief.

14 The backslider in heart will be filled with his own ways,
But a good man will be satisfied [c]from above.

15 The simple believes every word,
But the prudent considers well his steps.
16 A wise man fears and departs from evil,
But a fool rages and is self-confident.
17 A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
And a man of wicked intentions is hated.
18 The simple inherit folly,
But the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19 The evil will bow before the good,
And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

20 The poor man is hated even by his own neighbor,
But [d]the rich has many friends.
21 He who despises his neighbor sins;
But he who has mercy on the poor, happy is he.

22 Do they not go astray who devise evil?
But mercy and truth belong to those who devise good.

23 In all labor there is profit,
But [e]idle chatter leads only to poverty.

24 The crown of the wise is their riches,
But the foolishness of fools is folly.

25 A true witness [f]delivers souls,
But a deceitful witness speaks lies.

26 In the fear of the Lord there is strong confidence,
And His children will have a place of refuge.
27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
To turn one away from the snares of death.

28 In a multitude of people is a king’s honor,
But in the lack of people is the downfall of a prince.

29 He who is slow to wrath has great understanding,
But he who is [g]impulsive exalts folly.

30 A sound heart is life to the body,
But envy is rottenness to the bones.

31 He who oppresses the poor reproaches his Maker,
But he who honors Him has mercy on the needy.

32 The wicked is banished in his wickedness,
But the righteous has a refuge in his death.

33 Wisdom rests in the heart of him who has understanding,
But what is in the heart of fools is made known.

34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
But sin is a [h]reproach to any people.

35 The king’s favor is toward a wise servant,
But his wrath is against him who causes shame.

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:4 manger or feed trough
  2. Proverbs 14:9 Lit. guilt
  3. Proverbs 14:14 Lit. from above himself
  4. Proverbs 14:20 Lit. many are the lovers of the rich
  5. Proverbs 14:23 Lit. talk of the lips
  6. Proverbs 14:25 saves lives
  7. Proverbs 14:29 Lit. short of spirit
  8. Proverbs 14:34 shame or disgrace

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This Post Has 12 Comments

  1. Odogun Oluwaseun Morrison

    In Chapter 14 in a verse it made me understand that eventually, the wicked will pay for their evil deeds. They may walk into their own traps and suffer affliction as a result of their evil deeds on earth, though many get away with evil at least for a time in this life. What is certain is that in eternity God will settle all accounts, and the boasting of the wicked will be destroyed. The upright may have trouble in this life, but they will avoid a lot of needless adversity that doing evil and foolish things creates. The ultimate expression of the blessing and favor of God will come for the righteous in eternity, when they will inherit their promised eternal life. That is a house with a foundation built on Christ that will last, and even death and Satan cannot interfere to destroy that house

  2. Merayebu Joy Omowunmi

    Proverbs 14 contains thirty-five sayings, most of which contrast a particular concept with its opposite (e.g. patience with impatience). Many of the proverbs contrast the wise with the foolish, and others deal with various topics such as witnesses, emotions, fear of the Lord, charity, and a king.

  3. Imion immaculate osereme

    Proverbs 14:1The wise woman builds her house,
    But the foolish pulls it down with her hands. This is simply telling us that as wise women,we should do things that will keep our family and homes at peace. We should live our lives as virtuous women and not try to scatter our homes because of our way of lives.
    So many christians today are lovers of the rich,they only makes friends with you only when you have something to offer but once you don’t,they flew away from you like you have got some plague. It has gone so bad that even this is practiced in churches where a particular role or seat is reserved for the ones who donates mostly . As Christians,we shouldn’t make friends judging from the financial status of a person,we should make friends and help people genuinely not hoping to get something back in return.
    According to proverb 14:17A quick-tempered man acts foolishly,
    And a man of wicked intentions is hated.
    We should not take decisions or say things whenever we are angry. Whenever we have bad intentions all the time towards our neighbors,such a person will be hated. So,we should try as much as possible to live our lives in a way that pleases God asking him for the grace to do so.

  4. Ajisafe Oluwabusayo Marian

    Proverbs 14:1 says every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish pulls it down with her hands. This is talking about how we relate with our spouse and when issue arise the way we handle it determines if we are wise or foolish. We women need God’s wisdom to be able to build our homes in the way God want it to be and I pray the Lord will uphold our homes in Jesus name.
    Proverbs 14:7 that says go from the presence of a foolish man, when you do not perceive in him the lips of knowledge is talking about spirit of discernment. When to leave a particular gathering or discussion, when to stay, when to talk and when to be silent. I pray the holy spirit will help us to be able to discern well in all issues of life in Jesus name.

  5. Balogun Feranmi

    It still goes deeper into the action and consequences, a fool is known through their ways of not making amends, they are proud at heart and they believe their ways are right which later leads to destruction and death
    An upright person will be diligently rewarded because they fear the lord and run from evil, they would stand tall before evil

  6. ADEOSUN OLUGBEMI OLAGOKE

    Proverb 14
    The opening verse emphasize the impact of the wise woman and the foolishness or stupidity of an unwise woman. It further analyse the fear of God in an upright persons heart and how those with the despised heart also act.
    Vs 4,further highlights the impact of animal like cow in getting our work done.
    Vs 5-9 elucidate and expanciate further on the wise and foolish person of which this is an attempt to ring the truth in our ear to save and guide us from self inflicted destruction.
    Vs10 talk about our mood per time
    Vs 11 to 12 returns us to the house of the wicked and righteous and carefulness with our way.
    Vs 13 returns us to mood and human heart and attitude.
    The other verses talk about righteous ,backsliding,Beng simple, being wise seeking advice, oppression etc and what should be our action or attitude

  7. Odedairo Oladele Omotayo

    Proverbs 14 is a collection of thirty-five sayings or verses most of which employ antithetical parallelism.
    While there is no single theme that unifies the chapter, twelve of the thirty-five sayings deal with wisdom and folly. Other topics are witnesses, emotions, charity, and the king. In terms of structure, catchwords serve to unite individual verses.
    Verse10 speaks about human emotion: “The heart alone knows its bitterness, And no outsider can share in its joy.
    Verse12, which is repeated in speaks about the uncertainty of the future: “A road may seem right to a man, But in the end it is a road to death.” Taking into account that “no proverb says it all,” it seems that this verse qualifies many of the proverbs that came before it: while Wisdom is generally a path to life, there are no guarantees.
    A similar qualification is Prov. 3:11-12 which deals with the problem of why the righteous suffer: “Do not reject the discipline of the LORD, my son; Do not abhor His rebuke. For whom the LORD loves, He rebukes, As a father the son whom he favours.”
    Verse 20 contrasts the social situations of the rich and poor: “A pauper is despised even by his peers, But a rich man has many friends.” This viewpoint is frequently mentioned in Wisdom literature.
    Verse 26-27 both speak of the “fear of the Lord” (as does v. 2): “Fear of the LORD is a stronghold, A refuge for a man’s children. Fear of the LORD is a fountain of life, Enabling one to avoid deadly snares. “Fear of the Lord” seems to be the purpose of the book: the introduction at 1:7 says, “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and discipline.”
    Verse 31 speaks about charity, “He who withholds what is due to the poor affronts his Maker; He who shows pity for the needy honours Him.
    Rich man and poor man meet; The LORD made them both.
    God seems to have created the rich with the poor in mind, and vice versa. God also takes care of the poor himself: “Who is like the LORD our God, who, enthroned on high, sees what is below, in heaven and on earth? He raises the poor from the dust, lifts up the needy from the refuse heapto set them with the great, with the great men of His people.

  8. Akinsehinwa Queen

    Proverb 14: verse 1 is making us understand that for our home to be peaceful is in our hands and if otherwise is also in our hands so we need to choose how for ourselves either good or bad.
    Verse 3; words of our mouth sometimes has both positive and negative impact in our lives which can or will save us. Another thing I see here is forcing things on people which is very wrong. There are times we need to listen to people’s opinion and not let ours to be at the top every time because that is where pride and arrogance set in. 1 samuel 2:3, Matthew 12:37.
    Verse 9 of this chapter explains how we make sin normal thing for us this days, we make it our routine haven known that it’s a sin but we make jess of it as if it’s good and the word of God reference to those categories of people as Fools.
    Another verse that cought me is 14: the fact that people do something does not mean it’s right, I personally, if am to do something I use to say is Biblical especially about things of the spirit. Fleshy desires leads to sin/death.we have options of two gates which is the narrow and the wide gate, the narrow gate is through christ Jesus which leads to eternal life while the wide gate is self righteousness but leads to death.
    As s Christian we cant increase in knowledge by association with fools.
    The last verse : humanly, a king will always favour and associate with the wise ones so to the king of all kings which is our Lord jesus christ.any Christian that brings shame to God can’t receive favour but only the wise one that are right in their ways will get favour. May God help to be wise so we can get favour in His sight. Amen

  9. Adefuwa Adedokunola E

    Those who work faithfully, quietly, and honestly will find benefit, financial and spiritual, in their labor if they do what they do to the honor and glory of Christ. In work, it is tempting to focus on making others happy when the ultimate focus needs to be on making God happy through what we do (Colossians 3:17, 23). He is honored by a good heart attitude and a testimony that reflects the fruit of the Spirit. Those who don’t work and value laziness instead will find that just merely running their mouths will not make money or feed their stomachs. Some people talk big of themselves and what they are going to do in their lives, while others get to work and actually do the will of God.

  10. Gbadebo Toluwalope

    Proverbs 14
    Proverbs 14 vs 1-2 further proves that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, it shows that when you fear the Lord, you reference him and obey his words which leads to being more wise by teaching you what to lay your hands into will in turn strengthen your hands to build but without Gods wisdom or walking uprightly it leads to destruction
    Vs 3- 8
    This further shows us there are actions and consequences, without Gods wisdom, we tend to speak where we ain’t suppose to or even say what we shouldnt say mostly because we feel we know it all or have seen it all and this leads to adding lies to make what we are saying more convincing and juicy but when we have Gods wisdom it guides our lips to speak
    Vs 9-
    It still goes deeper into the action and consequences, a fool is known through their ways of not making amends, they are proud at heart and they believe their ways are right which later leads to destruction and death
    An upright person will be diligently rewarded because they fear the lord and run from evil, they would stand tall before evil

  11. Gbadebo omotolani Esther

    It state that we should always have the fear of God in us cause there is always a reward for the wicked,it also tells us not to take decisions wen we are not in a good mood for it make cus more damage to us eg saying words we will later end up regretting,it also tells us to be calm and always use God wisdom to handle cases we should always involve Him in anything we do, we should also remember that everything has a reward be it good or bad.

  12. Imion Angela Ofure

    Proverbs 14 vs 1-2 further proves that the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, it shows that when you fear the Lord, you reference him and obey his words which leads to being more wise by teaching you what to lay your hands into will in turn strengthen your hands to build but without Gods wisdom or walking uprightly it leads to destruction.
    Vs 3- 8
    Further shows us there are actions and consequences, without God’s wisdom, we tend to speak where we ain’t suppose to or even say what we shouldn’t say mostly because we feel we know it all or have seen it all and this leads to adding lies to make what we are saying more convincing and juicy but when we have God’s wisdom it guides our lips to speak.

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