Proverbs13
New Living Translation
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.
Study
Proverbs 13Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Proverbs 13. The full AI study guide (summary, themes, context) has its own page.
v1
There is great hope of those that reverence their parents. There is little hope of any who will not hear those that deal faithfully with them.
v2
By our words we must be justified or condemned, Mt 12:37.
v3
He that thinks before he speaks, that suppresses evil if he have thought it, keeps his soul from a great deal both of guilt and grief. Many a one is ruined by an ungoverned tongue.
Key Words
חָכָם: wise, (i.e. intelligent, skilful or artful)
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
אָב: father, in a literal and immediate, or figurative and remote application
מוּסָר: properly, chastisement; figuratively, reproof, warning or instruction; also restraint
לוּץ: properly, to make mouths at, i.e. to scoff; hence (from the effort to pronounce a foreign language) to interpret, or (generally) intercede
לֹא: not (the simple or abs. negation); by implication, no; often used with other particles
שָׁמַע: to hear intelligently (often with implication of attention, obedience, etc.; causatively, to tell, etc.)
גְּעָרָה: a chiding
מִן: properly, a part of; hence (prepositionally), from or out of in many senses
פְּרִי: fruit (literally or figuratively)
Cross References
Proverbs 13JFB explicitly correlates 'opening wide the lips' with destruction, linking directly to Proverbs 10:14.
Supported by JFB
JFB links eating good from the mouth with the parallel principle in Proverbs 12:14.
Supported by JFB
By our words we must be justified or condemned; directly echoing guarding one's mouth.
Supported by Matthew Henry
JFB links refusing instruction to the same moral warning given in Proverbs 10:17.
Supported by JFB
The specific providence where the wealth of sinners ultimately transfers to the hands of the just.
Supported by JFB
The divine pattern of loving discipline in parenting, connecting loving correction with parental responsibility.
Supported by JFB
JFB correlates the contrasting behavior of wise and foolish/scorning sons to Proverbs 10:1.
Supported by JFB
Verbal echo of the 'lamp of the wicked' being 'put out' (extinguished).
Parallels 'fountain of life' and 'departing from the snares of death' almost word-for-word.
JFB connects the refusal of instruction with the self-inflicted spiritual poverty of Proverbs 12:1.
Supported by JFB
The sinner gathers and heaps up, only to give to him who is good before God.
Contrasts the fool despising his father's instruction with the prudent son regarding reproof.
Identical theological theme: keeping mouth and tongue guards the soul from troubles.
Parallels the desire of the sluggard versus the material and spiritual fatness of the diligent.
Contrasts the incremental, honest accumulation of wealth with sudden vanity and destruction.