Proverbs 13:1-14

A wise son or daughter desires a father’s discipline, but the know-it-all never listens to correction. The words of the wise are kind and easy to swallow, but the unbeliever just wants to pick a fight and argue. Guard your words and you’ll guard your life, but if you don’t control your tongue, it will ruin everything. The slacker wants it all and ends up with nothing, but the hard worker ends up with all that he longed for. Lovers of God hate what is phony and false, but the wicked are full of shame and behave shamefully. Righteousness is like a shield of protection, guarding those who keep their integrity, but sin is the downfall of the wicked. One pretends to be rich but is poor. Another pretends to be poor but is quite rich. The self-assurance of the rich is their money, but people don’t kidnap and extort the poor! The virtues of God’s lovers shine brightly in the darkness, but the flickering lamp of the ungodly will be extinguished. Wisdom opens your heart to receive wise counsel, but pride closes your ears to advice and gives birth only to quarrels and strife. Wealth quickly gained is quickly wasted — easy come, easy go! But if you gradually gain wealth, you will watch it grow. When hope’s dream seems to drag on and on, the delay can be depressing. But when at last your dream comes true, life’s sweetness will satisfy your soul. Despise the word, will you? Then you’ll pay the price and it won’t be pretty! But the one who honors the Father’s holy instructions will be rewarded. When the lovers of God teach you truth, a fountain of life opens up within you, and their wise instruction will deliver you from the ways of death.