Proverbs 13
Proverbs 13:1-25 (NLT)
1 A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a mocker refuses to listen to correction.
2 Wise words will win you a good meal, but treacherous people have an appetite for violence.
3 Those who control their tongue will have a long life; opening your mouth can ruin everything.
4 Lazy people want much but get little, but those who work hard will prosper.
5 The godly hate lies; the wicked cause shame and disgrace.
6 Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.
7 Some who are poor pretend to be rich; others who are rich pretend to be poor.
8 The rich can pay a ransom for their lives, but the poor won’t even get threatened.
9 The life of the godly is full of light and joy, but the light of the wicked will be snuffed out.
10 Pride leads to conflict; those who take advice are wise.
11 Wealth from get-rich-quick schemes quickly disappears; wealth from hard work grows over time.
12 Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a dream fulfilled is a tree of life.
13 People who despise advice are asking for trouble; those who respect a command will succeed.
14 The instruction of the wise is like a life-giving fountain; those who accept it avoid the snares of death.
15 A person with good sense is respected; a treacherous person is headed for destruction.
16 Wise people think before they act; fools don’t—and even brag about their foolishness.
17 An unreliable messenger stumbles into trouble, but a reliable messenger brings healing.
18 If you ignore criticism, you will end in poverty and disgrace; if you accept correction, you will be honored.
19 It is pleasant to see dreams come true, but fools refuse to turn from evil to attain them.
20 Walk with the wise and become wise; associate with fools and get in trouble.
21 Trouble chases sinners, while blessings reward the righteous.
22 Good people leave an inheritance to their grandchildren, but the sinner’s wealth passes to the godly.
23 A poor person’s farm may produce much food, but injustice sweeps it all away.
24 Those who spare the rod of discipline hate their children. Those who love their children care enough to discipline them.
25 The godly eat to their hearts’ content, but the belly of the wicked goes hungry.
Essential to wisdom is the eager reception of corrective instruction. The patterns that cannot help but produce abundance, security, and blessing are developed over a long period of progressively applied adjustments. The enemy of this process is the foolish assumption that no help is needed, that a level of independence has been attained that no longer requires mentoring or tutoring. More often than not, the required adjustment will be much better recognized from an outside perspective based on unbiased truth and not just bull-headed arrogance. The rewards of acquired progress in wisdom far outweigh the assumed triumph of an uncompromising personal perspective. Blessing and abundance can only be sustained in this acquired affinity for needed correction. The instruction that offends the insecure in their foolishness is the embraced reason for gratitude in the heart of the one rising on the path of righteousness to its inevitable brightness.