Proverbs 12

¹⁰Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.

⁷He who corrects a mocker brings shame on himself; he who rebukes a wicked man taints himself.

⁸Do not rebuke a mocker, or he will hate you; rebuke a wise man, and he will love you.

⁹⁷Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.

⁹⁸Your commandments make me wiser than my enemies, for they are always with me.

¹²and you will say, “How I hated discipline, and my heart despised reproof!

¹³I did not listen to the voice of my teachers or incline my ear to my mentors.

¹He who isolates himself pursues selfish desires; he rebels against all sound judgment.

⁹Do not be like the horse or mule, which have no understanding; they must be controlled with bit and bridle to make them come to you.

³⁵For whoever finds me finds life and obtains the favor of the Lord.

²⁴Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and faith, and a great number of people were brought to the Lord.

⁵It is well with the man who is generous and lends freely, whose affairs are guided by justice.

⁷Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die.

⁵No longer will a fool be called noble, nor a scoundrel be respected.

⁶For a fool speaks foolishness; his mind plots iniquity. He practices ungodliness and speaks falsely about the Lord; he leaves the hungry empty and deprives the thirsty of drink.

³¹So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

¹⁷so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. Then you, being rooted and grounded in love,

⁷rooted and built up in Him, established in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness.

¹²The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹A song of ascents. Those who trust in the Lord are like Mount Zion. It cannot be moved; it abides forever.

²As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds His people, both now and forevermore.

¹⁶Though he heaps up silver like dust and piles up a wardrobe like clay,

¹⁷what he lays up, the righteous will wear, and his silver will be divided by the innocent.

¹⁰A wife of noble character, who can find? She is far more precious than rubies.

¹¹The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he lacks nothing of value.

³⁰A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones.

¹Every wise woman builds her house, but a foolish one tears it down with her own hands.

¹³A foolish son is his father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like a constant dripping.

¹⁴Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.

⁹Better to live on a corner of the roof than to share a house with a quarrelsome wife.

¹⁹Better to live in the desert than with a contentious and ill-tempered wife.

²³Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my concerns.

⁷Let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts; let him return to the Lord, that He may have compassion, and to our God, for He will freely pardon.

¹For the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. Rescue me, O Lord, from evil men. Protect me from men of violence,

²who devise evil in their hearts and stir up war all day long.

⁶My visitor speaks falsehood; he gathers slander in his heart; he goes out and spreads it abroad.

⁷All who hate me whisper against me; they imagine the worst for me:

¹⁴Wash the evil from your heart, O Jerusalem, so that you may be saved. How long will you harbor wicked thoughts within you?

²For his eyes are too full of conceit to detect or hate his own sin.

³The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful; he has ceased to be wise and well-doing.

³The proud speech of a fool brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them.

²⁶For among My people are wicked men; they watch like fowlers lying in wait; they set a trap to catch men.

¹¹If they say, “Come along, let us lie in wait for blood, let us ambush the innocent without cause,

¹²let us swallow them alive like Sheol, and whole like those descending into the Pit.

⁷Their feet run to evil; they are swift to shed innocent blood. Their thoughts are sinful thoughts; ruin and destruction lie in their wake.

¹Furthermore, Ahithophel said to Absalom, “Let me choose twelve thousand men and set out tonight in pursuit of David.

²I will attack him while he is weak and weary; I will throw him into a panic, and all the people with him will flee; I will strike down only the king

⁷and Mordecai told him all that had happened to him, including the exact amount of money that Haman had promised to pay into the royal treasury in order to destroy the Jews.

⁸Mordecai also gave Hathach a copy of the written decree issued in Susa for the destruction of the Jews, to show and explain to Esther, urging her to approach the king, implore his favor, and plead before him for her people.

²⁴Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.

²⁵The rain fell, the torrents raged, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because its foundation was on the rock.

²⁵When the whirlwind passes, the wicked are no more, but the righteous are secure forever.

²¹Be assured that the wicked will not go unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will escape.

¹⁸The house he built is like a moth’s cocoon, like a hut set up by a watchman.

¹⁹He lies down wealthy, but will do so no more; when he opens his eyes, all is gone.

²⁶so that Your name will be magnified forever when it is said, ‘The Lord of Hosts is God over Israel.’ And the house of Your servant David will be established before You.

³I have seen a fool taking root, but suddenly his house was cursed.

⁴His sons are far from safety, crushed in court without a defender.

¹⁸For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

³⁵The wise will inherit honor, but fools are held up to shame.

¹⁰By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as an expert builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one must be careful how he builds.

¹¹For no one can lay a foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.

⁴“I have sinned by betraying innocent blood,” he said. “What is that to us?” they replied. “You bear the responsibility.”

⁵So Judas threw the silver into the temple and left. Then he went away and hanged himself.

⁵Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God.

⁸But you have departed from the way, and your instruction has caused many to stumble. You have violated the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of Hosts.

⁹“So I in turn have made you despised and humiliated before all the people, because you have not kept My ways, but have shown partiality in matters of the law.”

¹¹For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”

⁷One pretends to be rich, but has nothing; another pretends to be poor, yet has great wealth.

⁴Do not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.

¹³But Jacob replied, “My lord knows that the children are frail, and I must care for sheep and cattle that are nursing their young. If they are driven hard for even a day, all the animals will die.

¹⁴Please let my lord go ahead of his servant. I will continue on slowly, at a comfortable pace for the livestock and children, until I come to my lord at Seir.”

²⁸Then the Lord opened the donkey’s mouth, and she said to Balaam, “What have I done to you that you have beaten me these three times?”

²⁹Balaam answered the donkey, “You have made a fool of me! If I had a sword in my hand, I would kill you right now!”

¹³For judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.

¹⁴What good is it, my brothers, if someone claims to have faith, but has no deeds? Can such faith save him?

¹⁷If anyone with earthly possessions sees his brother in need, but withholds his compassion from him, how can the love of God abide in him?

¹⁹The one who works his land will have plenty of food, but whoever chases fantasies will have his fill of poverty.

²³There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.

¹¹and to aspire to live quietly, to attend to your own matters, and to work with your own hands, as we instructed you.

¹²Then you will behave properly toward outsiders, without being dependent on anyone.

²For when you eat the fruit of your labor, blessings and prosperity will be yours.

²⁸He who has been stealing must steal no longer, but must work, doing good with his own hands, that he may have something to share with the one in need.

⁸nor did we eat anyone’s food without paying for it. Instead, in labor and toil, we worked night and day so that we would not be a burden to any of you.

⁷But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him.

⁸He is like a tree planted by the waters that sends out its roots toward the stream. It does not fear when the heat comes, and its leaves are always green. It does not worry in a year of drought, nor does it cease to produce fruit.

¹³The seeds on rocky ground are those who hear the word and receive it with joy, but they have no root. They believe for a season, but in the time of testing, they fall away.

¹⁴The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear, but as they go on their way, they are choked by the worries, riches, and pleasures of this life, and their fruit does not mature.

³He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does.

⁵I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

⁵A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.

⁶An evil man is caught by his own sin, but a righteous one sings and rejoices.

³¹And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root below and bear fruit above.

²³He who guards his mouth and tongue keeps his soul from distress.

⁸The righteous man is delivered from trouble; in his place the wicked man goes in.

⁸They will be made to stumble, their own tongues turned against them. All who see will shake their heads.

²⁴At the command of the king, the men who had falsely accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they and their children and wives. And before they had reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them and crushed all their bones.

²if you have been trapped by the words of your lips, ensnared by the words of your mouth,

¹⁸It is good to grasp the one and not let the other slip from your hand. For he who fears God will follow both warnings.

²⁰From the fruit of his mouth a man’s belly is filled; with the harvest from his lips he is satisfied.

²¹Life and death are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

¹⁰Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their labor.

¹¹Woe to the wicked; disaster is upon them! For they will be repaid with what their hands have done.

²From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things, but the desire of the faithless is violence.

⁵My soul is satisfied as with the richest of foods; with joyful lips my mouth will praise You.

²³A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word!

⁴¹Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.

⁴²And if anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple, truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.”

⁷Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and turn away from evil.

²⁰Listen to counsel and accept discipline, that you may be wise the rest of your days.

¹⁶A wise man fears and turns from evil, but a fool is careless and reckless.

¹²Do you see a man who is wise in his own eyes? There is more hope for a fool than for him.

²All a man’s ways are pure in his own eyes, but his motives are weighed out by the Lord.

²⁵There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

¹¹A fool vents all his anger, but a wise man holds it back.

¹⁹My beloved brothers, understand this: Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to anger,

¹²Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers all transgressions.

⁹Whoever conceals an offense promotes love, but he who brings it up separates friends.

²⁸Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who does not control his temper.

³³Wisdom rests in the heart of the discerning; even among fools she is known.

²⁵A truthful witness saves lives, but one who utters lies is deceitful.

⁵An honest witness does not deceive, but a dishonest witness pours forth lies.

²⁸Do not testify against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.

¹⁹a false witness who gives false testimony, and one who stirs up discord among brothers.

⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.

¹⁹For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

⁴A soothing tongue is a tree of life, but a perverse tongue crushes the spirit.

²⁰The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked has little worth.

²¹The lips of the righteous feed many, but fools die for lack of judgment.

⁴My soul is among the lions; I lie down with ravenous beasts—with men whose teeth are spears and arrows, whose tongues are sharp swords.

⁶The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

⁷All kinds of animals, birds, reptiles, and creatures of the sea are being tamed and have been tamed by man,

²Your tongue devises destruction like a sharpened razor, O worker of deceit.

⁹A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who pours out lies will perish.

⁴You love every word that devours, O deceitful tongue.

⁵Surely God will bring you down to everlasting ruin; He will snatch you up and tear you away from your tent; He will uproot you from the land of the living. Selah

⁵the triumph of the wicked has been brief and the joy of the godless momentary?

⁴Do not be like your fathers, to whom the former prophets proclaimed that this is what the Lord of Hosts says: ‘Turn now from your evil ways and deeds.’ But they did not listen or pay attention to Me, declares the Lord.

⁵Where are your fathers now? And the prophets, do they live forever?

³Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and withhold some of the proceeds from the land?

⁴Did it not belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal? How could you conceive such a deed in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God!”

³⁵Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will never pass away.

⁹Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.

⁸Finally, all of you, be like-minded and sympathetic, love as brothers, be tenderhearted and humble.

⁹Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult, but with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.

²¹For from within the hearts of men come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery,

²²greed, wickedness, deceit, debauchery, envy, slander, arrogance, and foolishness.

¹⁶But I have not run away from being Your shepherd; I have not desired the day of despair. You know that the utterance of my lips was spoken in Your presence.

¹³Yes, He will build the temple of the Lord; He will be clothed in splendor and will sit on His throne and rule. And He will be a priest on His throne, and there will be peaceful counsel between the two.’

¹²The wicked desire the plunder of evil men, but the root of the righteous flourishes.

¹³Who can harm you if you are zealous for what is good?

¹⁰no evil will befall you, no plague will approach your tent.

²⁸And we know that God works all things together for the good of those who love Him, who are called according to His purpose.

⁶Give back to her as she has done to others; pay her back double for what she has done; mix her a double portion in her own cup.

¹²Therefore you are to tell them that this is what the Lord, the God of Israel, says: ‘Every wineskin shall be filled with wine.’ And when they reply, ‘Don’t we surely know that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’

¹³then you are to tell them that this is what the Lord says: ‘I am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem.

³¹So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.

⁶You destroy those who tell lies; the Lord abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.

²⁰The perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord, but the blameless in their walk are His delight.

¹⁵But outside are the dogs, the sorcerers, the sexually immoral, the murderers, the idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.

¹⁶There are six things that the Lord hates, seven that are detestable to Him:

¹⁷haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,

²⁴But let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord, who exercises loving devotion, justice and righteousness on the earth—for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord.

¹Dishonest scales are an abomination to the Lord, but an accurate weight is His delight.

¹⁶Every prudent man acts with knowledge, but a fool displays his folly.

¹³A gossip reveals a secret, but a trustworthy person keeps a confidence.

¹⁹When words are many, sin is unavoidable, but he who restrains his lips is wise.

¹⁴The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.

²The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouth of the fool spouts folly.

³Even as the fool walks along the road, his sense is lacking, and he shows everyone that he is a fool.

²⁷A lazy man does not roast his game, but a diligent man prizes his possession.

⁴Idle hands make one poor, but diligent hands bring wealth.

²⁵The craving of the slacker kills him because his hands refuse to work.

²⁶All day long he covets more, but the righteous give without restraint.

⁴The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

¹⁵Laziness brings on deep sleep, and an idle soul will suffer hunger.

²⁹Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will be stationed in the presence of kings; he will not stand before obscure men.

²⁴Pleasant words are a honeycomb, sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.

¹³A joyful heart makes a cheerful countenance, but sorrow of the heart crushes the spirit.

²²A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones.

⁴The Lord God has given Me the tongue of discipleship, to sustain the weary with a word. He awakens Me morning by morning; He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.

²³A man takes joy in a fitting reply—and how good is a timely word!

¹⁸Speaking rashly is like a piercing sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.

²⁶I have written these things to you about those who are trying to deceive you.

¹³When tempted, no one should say, “God is tempting me.” For God cannot be tempted by evil, nor does He tempt anyone.

¹⁴But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed.

²⁷A man of knowledge restrains his words, and a man of understanding maintains a calm spirit.

⁴⁶If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Do not even tax collectors do the same?

⁴⁷And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even Gentiles do the same?

¹²From the brightness of His presence His clouds advanced—hailstones and coals of fire.

¹³The Lord thundered from heaven; the voice of the Most High resounded—hailstones and coals of fire.

¹⁸With lofty but empty words, they appeal to the sensual passions of the flesh and entice those who are just escaping from others who live in error.

¹⁹They promise them freedom, while they themselves are slaves to depravity. For a man is a slave to whatever has mastered him.

⁴The slacker craves yet has nothing, but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

¹⁵The slacker buries his hand in the dish; it wearies him to bring it back to his mouth.

¹⁶Better is the little of the righteous than the abundance of many who are wicked.

¹¹Beloved, do not imitate what is evil, but what is good. The one who does good is of God; the one who does evil has not seen God.

²¹so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.

²⁰The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of the righteous man will fall upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked man will fall upon him.

²¹But if the wicked man turns from all the sins he has committed, keeps all My statutes, and does what is just and right, he will surely live; he will not die.

¹⁹Genuine righteousness leads to life, but the pursuit of evil brings death.

¹¹For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to everyone.

¹²It instructs us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live sensible, upright, and godly lives in the present age,

²⁹If you know that He is righteous, you also know that everyone who practices righteousness has been born of Him.