Proverbs chapter 10 (part 3) - Wise Sayings of Solomon

Proverbs chapter 10.

Summary:  The man with understanding loves wisdom, the fool enjoys sinful doings. Righteous will be blessed with granted desires, the fool will be punished with curses. Prosperity for the righteous can endure economic troubles but prosperity of wicked means will be shortlived. Lazy worker is no good for the boss. Wise, righteous and godly people will be blessed with long life, and joyous future. Wicked will be punished with shortened life and hopeless future. Strength and stability for those who live in godly ways. Mouth and lips of the righteous produce wisdom, and be liked by God and men.

Proverbs of Solomon  (NIV).
Wise Sayings of Solomon  (RSV) (NKJV).

23 23 It is like sport to a fool to do wrong,
    but wise conduct is pleasure to a man of understanding.  (RSV)

23 23 A fool finds pleasure in wicked schemes,
    but a person of understanding delights in wisdom.  (NIV)

23 23 To do evil is like sport to a fool,
But a man of understanding has wisdom.  (NKJV)

Understanding and wisdom is like a Two-in-One package. A person who has understanding also has wisdom. Wise people enjoys and likes wisdom.

Unwise, foolish people enjoys doing evil and sinful doings. Foolish people finds pleasure with various types of evil ways (fleshly lust, carnal/worldly desires, lust of the eyes).

24 24 What the wicked dreads will come upon him,
    but the desire of the righteous will be granted.  (RSV)

24 24 What the wicked dread will overtake them;
    what the righteous desire will be granted.  (NIV)

Desire of the righteous are good and noble, and will be fulfilled. Due to wisdom, the righteous will be desiring the things that are good (e.g. knowledge, virtues, honest income, business expansion, children). The righteous will be blessed by God.

On the contrary, the bad and wicked people will suffer punishment and curse. Dreaded events (e.g. loss of money, death of loved one, sickness, imprisonment) will happen to them.

25 25 When the tempest passes, the wicked is no more,
    but the righteous is established for ever.  (RSV)

25 25 When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone,
    but the righteous stand firm forever.  (NIV)

The prosperity of the righteous and wise people will be permanent and lasting despite the bad economic scenario (e.g. recession, depression, economic crises, currency fluctuation). However, the prosperity of the wicked and foolish people will not survive for long. Money earned using unethical means (e,g. fraud, cheating, evil schemes) will not last long.

26 26 Like vinegar to the teeth, and smoke to the eyes,
    so is the sluggard to those who send him.  (RSV)

26 26 As vinegar to the teeth and smoke to the eyes,
So is the lazy man to those who send him.  (NKJV)

The lazy/slothful man and sluggard is not effective and not efficient. Vinegar will spoil the teeth, smoke will blurr the vision. Laziness will cause the work assignment to be not properly implemented, not completed on time, and various other problems. A lazy worker is no good for the boss.

As believers, we must not be lazy and sluggish. We must avoid procrastination. We must be diligent, and be dedicated towards whatever work assignment that we are supposed to do. If we serve in a specific ministry, we must serve diligently and smartly, avoiding sluggishness.

27 27 The fear of the Lord prolongs life,
    but the years of the wicked will be short.
28 28 The hope of the righteous ends in gladness,
   but the expectation of the wicked comes to nought.  (RSV)

27 The fear of the Lord adds length to life,
    but the years of the wicked are cut short.

28 The prospect of the righteous is joy,
    but the hopes of the wicked come to nothing.  (NIV)

Wise and righteous people who loves and honours God will be blesses with long life, and joyous future. The wise and righteous lives a long life in happiness, joy, peace, and financial security.

On the contrary, the wicked will be punished with short life and a meaningless future. Life of the wicked will be full of troubles and tribulations. Wickedness shorten men's life, and frustrates their hopes. Hopes of the wicked will turn into despair.

29 29 The Lord is a stronghold to him whose way is upright,
    but destruction to evildoers.
30 30 The righteous will never be removed,    but the wicked will not dwell in the land.  (RSV)

29 The way of the Lord is a refuge for the blameless,
    but it is the ruin of those who do evil.

30 The righteous will never be uprooted,
    but the wicked will not remain in the land.  (NIV)

29 The way of the Lord is strength for the upright,
But destruction will cometo the workers of iniquity.

30 The righteous will never be removed,
But the wicked will not inhabit the earth.  (NKJV)

The righteous/upright/blameless people will choose the way of the Lord which will protect and safeguard them. Believers who lived in the ways of Gods will live peacefully and permaently in safety and security. Strength and stability is for the righteous believers. The way of the Lord is the godly way.

On the contrary, destruction and many troubles and tribulations will be faced by the bad and wicked people, and workers of iniquity. Ruin and destruction are the consequences of wickedness, offences/sins against other people.

31 31 The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom,
    but the perverse tongue will be cut off.
32 32 The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable,    but the mouth of the wicked, what is perverse.  (RSV)

31 From the mouth of the righteous comes the fruit of wisdom,
    but a perverse tongue will be silenced.

32 The lips of the righteous know what finds favor,
    but the mouth of the wicked only what is perverse.  (NIV)

Mouth and lips of the righteous produce words/speech of wisdom, wise sayings, finding favour with God and other people. Out of the good tree, bear good fruits. Similarly, from the wise and righteous person, his talks and doings are also good, righteous, wise and noble. God likes those who live godly ways. Other people also like those who say and do good things.

Perverse tongue that constantly lie, slander, backstab, sow discord and stir up conflicts, are not welcomed by other people. Other people will choose not to listen to the guy who likes to lie, slander, etc (be silenced). From the lips of the wicked and sinful person, the talk and words coming out are foul, sinful, perverse, destructive instead of constructive, misleading, promoting evil doing.


Thursday - Friday, Jan 16-17, 2014.
Michael Yeap.

NIV:  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+10&version=NIV

RSV:  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+10&version=RSV

NKJV:   http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+10&version=NKJV

Commentaries:
21)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.23
22)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.24-Prov.10.25
23)   http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.26
24)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.27-Prov.10.28
25)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.29-Prov.10.30
26)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.31-Prov.10.32

Proverbs chapter 10 (part 1) - Wise Sayings of Solomon

Proverbs chapter 10.

Summary:  This chapter contained many individual proverbs of wisdom.  Wise son vs foolish son. Wealth gained through evil means. Lazy son vs diligent son. Blessings and remembrance for the righteous. Mouth of the righteous vs the wicked. Lips of the person with and without understanding. Hatred vs LOVE. Punishment for the person without understanding.

Proverbs of Solomon  (NIV).

Wise Sayings of Solomon  (RSV) (NKJV).

1 The proverbs of Solomon.

A wise son makes a glad father,
    but a foolish son is a sorrow to his mother. (RSV)

1 The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise son brings joy to his father,
    but a foolish son brings grief to his mother.  (NIV)

1 The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise son makes a glad father,
But a foolish son is the grief of his mother.  (NKJV)

This proverbs seems to rather chauvinistic in nature. This is not surprising based on the era this was written. If the son is wise and doing well, this is the pride of the father. On the contrary, if the son is foolish and acts foolishly, his mother should be sorrowful. The credit goes to the father, the blame goes to the mother.

Wisdom and living wisely will bring joy and gladness to the parents. All parents will be happy to see their children successful, living happily and righteously. Hence, as parents, we must play our part in educating our children in wisdom: various aspects of wisdom including spiritual wisdom and worldly/secular wisdom.

On the contrary, if the children turn out to be living foolishly, living in bad/wicked ways (laziness, theft, gambling, getting drunk, drug abuse), the parents will be grieving and sorrowful. Parents need to pay attention to educate their children correctly so that they follow the part of wisdom, path of righteousness. Parents should also contribute positively toward their children's faith in God, and knowledge of Christ.

2 2 Treasures gained by wickedness do not profit,
    but righteousness delivers from death.
3 3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,
    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.  (RSV)

2 Ill-gotten treasures have no lasting value,
    but righteousness delivers from death.

3 The Lord does not let the righteous go hungry,    but he thwarts the craving of the wicked.  (NIV)

Wealth and riches which are earned through wicked ways (through cheating, gambling, stealing, robbing) will not last forever. The most is for them to last during the life on earth. In the afterlife, none of the worldly wealth and riches can be transferred to the next world.

Wealth obtained through fraud or oppression will somehow be lost. Easy come, easy go. What's the point of gaining wealth through unjust ways? Material wealth is worth much less than eternal life. Can the person earning money through unjust ways have the happiness and peace in life?

Our Lord God will provide for all His righteous believers. He will bless the righteous with life eternity as well as material things. God will bless the righteous with more than enough, with abundance. Those who follow God's righteous path will not go "hungry", will not be needy. All their needs shall be fulfilled.

4 4 A slack hand causes poverty,
    but the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 5 A son who gathers in summer is prudent,    but a son who sleeps in harvest brings shame.  (RSV)

4 Lazy hands make for poverty,
    but diligent hands bring wealth.

5 He who gathers crops in summer is a prudent son,    but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son.  (NIV)

4 4 He who has a slack hand becomes poor,
But the hand of the diligent makes rich.
5 5 He who gathers in summeris a wise son;He who sleeps in harvestis a son who causes shame.  (NKJV)

Earlier on in the book of Proverbs, we know that laziness, sluggishness, slothfulness is a sin. Here, we are reminded again about laziness.

A lazy person will bring shame/dishonor/disgrace and poverty to himself and his family.  On the the contrary, the diligent, hardworking person is regarded as a wise person, and will be rewarded with riches and wealth. So, here we see that one of the principles of wisdom is Diligence and Hardwork.

A diligent, hardworking man is a wise man. A lazy man is a an wise man, a fool or a foolish man. Many people often think of sins as offences against God (worshipping other gods, idolatry, blasphemy) and offences against other people (stealing, robbing, adultery, slandering, false accusation, false witness, lying, assault, murder). Many forget or are unaware that there also sins against self, such as laziness, greed, overeating, overdrinking & getting drunk, drug abuse).

To be good believers who obey God's commands, we need to be diligent and hardworking, not only in our personal devotion to God, but also in our career and business. Believers cannot be good testimony for Christ if the believers are lazy and slothful at work, and become poor and needy as a result. Believers should be exemplary in order to be effective testimony for the Lord.

6 6 Blessings are on the head of the righteous,
    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
7 7 The memory of the righteous is a blessing,
    but the name of the wicked will rot.
8 8 The wise of heart will heed commandments,
    but a prating fool will come to ruin.  (RSV)

6 Blessings crown the head of the righteous,
    but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked.[a]

7 The name of the righteousis used in blessings,[b]
    but the name of the wicked will rot.

8 The wise in heart accept commands,
    but a chattering fool comes to ruin.  (NIV)

Blessing shall rain down from God above to the heads of the righteous and just people.  The wise will follow the path of the righteous, will do the right things, will say the right things, will see and perceive things in the correct point of view, listen to the the right/wise teachings and instructions, and be blessed bountifully by God. and will gain much money, riches and wealth. The wise being diligent and hardworking will have abundance, more than enough, and will not lack money and wealth. The wise will alse be blessed, honoured and respected by other people.

On the contrary, the wicked and the bad people are filled with violence in their speech. The speech of the wicked contains fraud, lies, slander, false accusation (bad stabbing). character assassination.  In this digital era, violent speech could also be in the form of Facebook status update, tweets, blogs,  photos, which could be used for assault of other people.

Eveyone, good or bad, righteous or wicked, will eventually die. For the good and righteous people, they will be well remembered by friends, relatives, community and/or society for their goodness, kind acts, their wisdom, their good deeds, their wise sayings, their wise thoughts, and their positive contribution. Bad or wicked people will be quickly forgotten. Normally, nobody wants to remember the bad guys because of their insignificance to other people.

The good and righteous will be honoured and respected when living. The good and righteous will continue to be remembered and honoured after death.

The wise people will take heed of commands, and obey the commands. Wise people will walk the way of righteousness, and live well in joy and peace.

9 9 He who walks in integrity walks securely,
    but he who perverts his ways will be found out.
10 10 He who winks the eye causes trouble,
    but he who boldly reproves makes peace.[a]
11 11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,
    but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.
12 12 Hatred stirs up strife,
    but love covers all offenses.
13 13 On the lips of him who has understanding wisdom is found,
    but a rod is for the back of him who lacks sense.  (RSV)

9 9 Whoever walks in integrity walks securely,
    but whoever takes crooked paths will be found out.  (NIV)

Wise men will walk in righteousness and integrity. Those who walk righteously with integrity are walking in safety and security. Safety and security is very important for us to be able to live peacefully.

Those who take crooked paths, for example, cheats, thieves, robbers, fraudsters, conduct their wicked acts in secrecy, but will one day be exposed. When exposed, they may be subject to punishment and imprisonment. Those who do bad things will one day be "rewarded" with punishment and curse.

10 10 Whoever winks maliciously causes grief,
    and a chattering fool comes to ruin.  (NIV)

10 10 He who winks with the eye causes trouble,
But a prating fool will fall.  (NKJV)

Those with crafty and malicious plan/plot will bring trouble and grief to himself and others. Fools who talks nonsense will eventually ruin himself.

11 11 The mouth of the righteous is a well of life,
But violence covers the mouth of the wicked.  (NKJV)

Mouth is the outlet for our mind. If our thoughts are virtuous, from our mouth/lips will be words of goodness, words that build and not destroy, words of love and not hatred, good plans and not evil plots, speech that encourage and not destruct, speech that cultivate bonding and not stirring conflicts.

Output/speech of the righteous is a fountain/well/source of life. Words of the wise/righteous are like continuing supply of water which is needed for life and living healthily. From the mouth of wise, comes out beneficial knowledge, fruitful words, constructive ideas, and all the good things.

On the contrary, the mouth of the wicked/fools has many "violence" inside, such as slander, lies, character assassination, fraudulent words, seductive words, crafty speech, foul language, false accusation, false witness, false prophecy, speech that sows discord, conversation that cause disunity, and all the bad things.

Evil intentions and crafty plots are hidden behind lies, slanders, false accusation, back stabbing. For example, lies and slanders are told to discredit certain people, to commit character assassination. Purpose of character assassination is to "kill off" somebody by damaging his reputation, destroying his credibility. Character assassination will focus on the target person's weaknesses such as his habits (he is always late, he never gives anybody a treat), his character (hot temper, indecisive, too authoritative, too democratic, too soft, too harsh), his errors (wrong decision, mismanagement. wrong committee selection).

12 12 Hatred stirs up conflict,
    but love covers over all wrongs.  (NIV)

12 12 Hatred stirs up strife,
But love covers all sins.  (NKJV)

Hatred, jealousy and envy could cause someone to lie and slander, to stir up conflicts, to create discord and disunity. Hatred may result in many forms of evil.

On the contrary, love can make a person forgive and forget the offences committed by other people. When a person is filled with LOVE, he wants to the good things, and avoid doing the bad things to others.

With someone loves the target person, he definitely will not slander that target person. He will falsely accuse the target person.

13 13 Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning,
    but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense.  (NIV)

13 13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has understanding,
But a rod is for the back of him who is devoid of understanding.  (NKJV)

How to know the person who has understanding? We know by the words and speech. Because for the person with wisdom and understanding, his words and speech are those of wisdom, the righteous and just words, the speech that is beneficial.

But those who have no understanding (devoid of understanding, no sense) deserve only to punished...eventually.  Punishment is in store for those who live foolishly, for those who refuse to learn the wisdom,  for those who do not walk in the path of the righteous.
To be continued the next day....

Wednesday, Jan 15, 2014.
Michael Yeap.

NIV:  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+10&version=NIV

RSV:  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+10&version=RSV

NKJV:  http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=proverbs+10&version=NKJV

Commentaries:
1)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.1
2)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.2-Prov.10.3
3)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.4
4)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.5
5)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.6
6)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.7
7)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.8
8)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.9
9)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.10
10)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.11
11)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.12
12)  http://www.biblegateway.com/resources/matthew-henry/Prov.10.13
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