14:1 The wisest of women builds her house,
but folly with her own hands tears it down.
2 Whoever walks in uprightness fears the Lord,
but he who is devious in his ways despises him.
3 By the mouth of a fool comes a rod for his back,
but the lips of the wise will preserve them.
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is clean,
but abundant crops come by the strength of the ox.
5 A faithful witness does not lie,
but a false witness breathes out lies.
6 A scoffer seeks wisdom in vain,
but knowledge is easy for a man of understanding.
7 Leave the presence of a fool,
for there you do not meet words of knowledge.
8 The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way,
but the folly of fools is deceiving.
9 Fools mock at the guilt offering,
but the upright enjoy acceptance.
10 The heart knows its own bitterness,
and no stranger shares its joy.
11 The house of the wicked will be destroyed,
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 to death.
13 Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and the end of joy may be grief.
14 The backslider in heart will be filled with the fruit of his ways,
and a good man will be filled with the fruit of his ways.
15 The simple believes everything,
but the prudent gives thought to his steps.
16 One who is wise is cautious and turns away from evil,
but a fool is reckless and careless.
17 A man of quick temper acts foolishly,
and a man of evil devices is hated.
18 The simple inherit folly,
but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.
19 The evil bow down before the good,
the wicked at the gates of the righteous.
20 The poor is disliked even by his neighbor,
but the rich has many friends.
21 Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner,
but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
22 Do they not go astray who devise evil?
Those who devise good meet steadfast love and faithfulness.
23 In all toil there is profit,
but mere talk tends only to poverty.
24 The crown of the wise is their wealth,
but the folly of fools brings folly.
25 A truthful witness saves lives,
but one who breathes out lies is deceitful.
26 In the fear of the Lord one has strong confidence,
and his children will have a refuge.
27 The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life,
that one may turn away from the snares of death.
28 In a multitude of people is the glory of a king,
but without people a prince is ruined.
29 Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding,
but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.
30 A tranquil heart gives life to the flesh,
but envy makes the bones rot.
31 Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker,
but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
32 The wicked is overthrown through his evildoing,
but the righteous finds refuge in his death.
33 Wisdom rests in the heart of a man of understanding,
but it makes itself known even in the midst of fools.
34 Righteousness exalts a nation,
but sin is a reproach to any people.
35 A servant who deals wisely has the king’s favor,
but his wrath falls on one who acts shamefully.
(ESV)
Acts 3
Acts 2
Acts 1
Luke 24
Luke 23
Luke 22
Luke 21
Luke 20
Luke 19
Luke 18
3 A fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.
Do we ever realize how important our words are? We need to make sure that the words that are coming forth from our lips are wise words…words that edify and build others up and honor the Lord. It is easy to speak quickly without thinking and dishonor the Lord with our speech. Let us be wise in our speech and our action so that we may live lives that are holy before the Lord.
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I love who the wisdom of the Proverbs works in every aspect of our lives; wether it be school, home, relationships, or church, the wisdom of God is always applicable!
32 When calamity comes, the wicked are brought down, but even in death the righteous have a refuge.
This verse is a great reminder of the hope that we have in the resurection of Jesus Christ from the dead. Because of this great miracle, we have the unbreakable hope that one day we will be raised up with our Lord who conquered death and sin! Death no longer has it’s potency or “sting” and this verse says that we have a refuge from the eternal death. This verse deffenitely gives me a reason to praise His perfect name and exalt Him forever!
4 Where there are no oxen, the manger is empty, but from the strength of an ox comes an abundant harvest.
In this verse a hard worker is illistrated by on oxen. God likes hard work and despises the lazy. In the summer time there is a lot of free time. We usually use this time to have fun or relax, but if we are not killing sin, sin is killing us. We have to work hard for our faith; we are in a battle daily.
Hunter, i liked the “Because of this great miracle, we have the unbreakable hope that one day we will be raised up with our Lord who conquered death and sin!”
He sure did and that hope should propel our life towards Christ.
30 A heart at peace gives life to the body, but envy rots the bones.
This verse really caught my eye , for a heart at peace gives life to the body. If you want a heart at peace, it can’t be warring with God, it must submit to His will. Now I had just read Philippians 4:6-7 which also talks about God’s peace:
“Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”
Through prayer, when you submit your life and its struggles to God, it says you will experience God’s peace as it guards your heart and mind. I know that it is easy to try to focus on how we can solve our own problems and handle situations, but when we give God the control our heart is at peace.
12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
My dad basically tells me this every time I hang out with my friends…. After a while, I kinda thought it didnt apply to me, but now being older, I can see what he was saying. The things that we think are fun and exciting for us, will lead to death.
2 He whose walk is upright fears the LORD, but he whose ways are devious despises him.
I remember speaking about the fear of the Lord in one of our campus lunches at SVCS. I am pretty sure that I referred to this verse. The first thing I did was ask them,” What does it mean to fear the Lord?” One person answered that it isn’t really fearing them, it’s to have respect for him. That is actually not true. Fearing the Lord means to fear judgement. If you are a Christian then you would fear the Lord because you would have to fear judgement. I am afraid of judgement and having to go through all of my sins. So in the first half of this verse it’s pretty much saying that anyone who is right with the Lord, fears the Lord. In the second half of this verse it says that if anyone is not right with the Lord, then the despise the Lord, they do not fear the Lord. I asked the question in my campus lunch,” Who fears the Lord?” Most people raised their hands, but there were some people that didn’t raise them and I thought they were Christians. You can’t be a Christian if you don’t fear the Lord. Even though their were most of the people that raised their hands, doesn’t really mean thats true. I know that some of those people’s walks with the Lord weren’t right. It is important as Christians that we do fear the Lord.
21 He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
This is something alot of people have a problem with. This doesn’t pertain exactly to people who live next to you, although it can. The verse is also talking about friends, family, and all other people. If we have hatred toward someone, we are sinning. If we hold grudges against our brother or sister, we are sinning. Most people I know get in alot of fights with their siblings (myself included). We need to kill this sin in our lives!!
13 Even in laughter the heart may ache, and joy may end in grief
This verse i think describes a lot of people that think they are christian but arent. They are laughing and putting a smile on but in their heart they dont actually feel joy and feel God’s presence. In the end of all the fake smiles, there will just be saddness and grief.
23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
This verse is a great encouragement to me tonight to keep working hard in the high school ministry.
23 All hard work brings a profit, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
Saying something and not doing it are completely different things. This applies to many things but the thing that sticks out the most to me is evangelism. Many Christians are very fired up when they talk about evangelism but they don’t actually do it. If we evangelize our profit is hopefully bringing others into the faith and having them repent of their sins and we are rewarded in heaven for following Gods commands.
This is going to be a bit harder for us as we enter summer and hang around True North most of the week because we may not have as many opportunities to evangelize as we had on our High School campuses. So be ready to work and not to just talk!
This was a very cool and informative chapter. I like how it just lays out the right thing and then the wrong thing. But the point that was stressed in this chapter and the point that i noticed the most was that it kept repeating that we need to FEAR the LORD. It says this in verse 16, 26 and 27. In 16 it says that a wise man fears the Lord and shuns evil. In verse 26 it says that he who fears the Lord has a secure fortress. And in 27 it says the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life, turning us from the snares of death. So i just see in this chapter that it is essential for us to FEAR the LORD.
21 He who despises his neighbor sins, but blessed is he who is kind to the needy.
I agree with Luke! I am sure many people have this problem. It may not seem like a big deal, but its a sin! It is not good to hate, or to hold grudges. We need to watch out, and make this important to try and stop the sin!