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A man’s large leather sandals and a child’s tiny pair side by side on a worn stone doorstep, a clay lamp glowing in the doorway behind.

Solomon’s sayings

Proverbs 13

Nobody hands you a manual for raising children, or for being one.

25 verses≈ 3 minBSB

Images are artistic interpretations.

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Where we are

  1. 1–7The father's talksWhy the book exists, then a father to his son
  2. 8–9Wisdom callsHer house and Folly's
  3. 10–22:16Solomon's sayingsTwo lines at a timeChapter 13
  4. 22:17–24The sayings of the wiseThirty sayings, and a few more
  5. 25–29Hezekiah's collectionMore of Solomon, copied out later
  6. 30AgurNumbered sayings from a weary man
  7. 31LemuelA mother's words, and the noble wife

A Father’s Discipline

A wise son heeds his father’s discipline,

but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

Tap to go deeper: meaning, history and related Scripture

Sayings

Mouth and appetite

  1. Words

    Fruit of the lips

    From the fruit of his lips a man enjoys good things,

    but the desire of the faithless is violence.

  2. Guarding the mouth

    He who guards his mouth protects his life,

    but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.

  3. Work

    Craving or filled

    The slacker craves yet has nothing,

    but the soul of the diligent is fully satisfied.

  4. Words

    Hating falsehood

    The righteous hate falsehood,

    but the wicked bring shame and disgrace.

  5. Justice

    What guards a man

    Righteousness guards the man of integrity,

    but wickedness undermines the sinner.

Arrogance leads only to strife, but wisdom is with the well-advised.

Dishonest wealth will dwindle,

but what is earned through hard work will be multiplied.

Reflect

Take it home

Whose teaching shaped the home you grew up in? What will you pass on, and what do you want to stop with you?

Looking out of an open house door at evening down an empty road, a clay bowl set ready on the sill.

Hope deferred makes the heart sick,

but desire fulfilled is a tree of life.

He who despises instruction will pay the penalty,

but the one who respects a command will be rewarded.

The teaching of the wise is a fountain of life,

turning one from the snares of death.

0:18

Narrated by Bob Souer · BSB audio, public domain

Good understanding wins favor,

but the way of the faithless is difficult.

Sayings

Who gets what

  1. Wisdom

    Acting with knowledge

    Every prudent man acts with knowledge,

    but a fool displays his folly.

  2. Words

    Messenger and envoy

    A wicked messenger falls into trouble,

    but a faithful envoy brings healing.

  3. Wisdom

    Heeding correction

    Poverty and shame come to him who ignores discipline,

    but whoever heeds correction is honored.

  4. Temptation

    Hard to turn from

    Desire fulfilled is sweet to the soul,

    but turning from evil is detestable to fools.

Question

Quick question

Verse 20 is coming. It names one thing that does more to form a person than most people notice.

According to 13:20, what shapes who you become?

He who walks with the wise will become wise,

but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

Proverbs 13:20

Disaster pursues sinners,

but prosperity is the reward of the righteous.

A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,

but the sinner’s wealth is passed to the righteous.

A poor family’s small newly broken plot thick with young green barley on stony ground, a boundary stone lying dragged from its socket at the edge.

Abundant food is in the fallow ground of the poor,

but without justice it is swept away.

He who spares the rod hates his son,

but he who loves him disciplines him diligently.

A righteous man eats to his heart’s content,

but the stomach of the wicked is empty.

Pray

Say it to Him

Father, give me patience with the children in my care, and love enough to correct them gently. Where I was poorly taught, teach me Yourself. Let what I hand on be good.

You’ve experienced

Proverbs 13

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A verse to carry with you

He who walks with the wise will become wise, but the companion of fools will be destroyed.

Proverbs 13:20

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