Proverbs 13:12-25

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. Everyone admires a wise, sensible person, but the treacherous walk on the path of ruin. Everything a wise and shrewd man does comes from a source of revelation-knowledge, but the behavior of a fool puts foolishness on parade! An undependable messenger causes a lot of trouble, but the trustworthy and wise messengers release healing wherever they go. Poverty and disgrace come to the one who refuses to hear criticism. But the one who is easy to correct is on the path of honor. When God fulfills your longings, sweetness fills your soul. But the wicked refuse to turn from darkness to see their desires come to pass. If you want to grow in wisdom, spend time with the wise. Walk with the wicked and you’ll eventually become just like them. Calamity chases the sin-chaser, but prosperity pursues the God-lover. The benevolent man leaves an inheritance that endures to his children’s children, but the wealth of the wicked is treasured up for the righteous. The lovers of God will live a long life and get to enjoy their wealth, but the ungodly will suddenly perish. If you withhold correction and punishment from your children, you demonstrate a lack of true love. So prove your love and be prompt to punish them. The lovers of God will have more than enough, but the wicked will always lack what they crave.