Proverbs Chapter 10
Showing all 32 verses for Proverbs Chapter 10.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. "
"These are Solomon's proverbs. A wise child brings his father joy, but a foolish child weighs his mother down with grief."
The way you live doesn't just affect you - it lands on the people who love you most. I want you to remember that your growth and your struggles both matter to someone, and choosing wisdom is one way of loving your family well.
"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. "
"Wealth gained by wrongdoing does you no good in the end, but living rightly can save your life."
Don't measure your life by what you've accumulated, however you got it - measure it by whether you can live with how you got there. I'd rather you have less and sleep easy than have more and be haunted by how you got it.
"The LORD will not the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. "
💡 Highlighted words feature Jacobean 1611 tooltips to clarify shifted 17th-century English terms.
"God won't let a righteous person go hungry, but he pushes away what the wicked have gathered."
You don't have to claw and cheat your way to feeling secure - I'm not going to let you starve for choosing to do right. Trust that steady, honest living is actually the more reliable path, even when it looks slower.
"He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. "
"A lazy, careless worker ends up poor, but a hard-working, diligent person becomes wealthy."
Small, steady effort matters more than it feels like it does in the moment - keep showing up, even when no one's watching. I see the work you put in even when the results are slow to come.
"He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame. "
"Whoever gathers the harvest in summer is acting wisely, but whoever sleeps through harvest time brings shame on himself."
Pay attention to the moments that matter and act while the opportunity is actually there - don't let the right season pass you by through drifting or delay. I want you awake to your own life, not sleepwalking through the times that count.
"Blessings are upon the head of the just: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. "
"Good things rest on the head of a righteous person, but the wicked person's own mouth is full of violence."
Let your words be a genuine reflection of a heart that's settled and kind, not a cover for anger you haven't dealt with. I'd rather you let goodness show through what you say than let bitterness leak out sideways.
"The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot. "
"A righteous person's memory is a blessing to others, but a wicked person's name will rot away."
Think about the mark you're leaving, not just for today but for the people who'll remember you later. Live in a way that makes your name something worth someone smiling at, long after you're gone.
"The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall. "
"A wise-hearted person accepts guidance, but a chattering fool is heading for a fall."
Practise listening more than you speak, especially when someone's trying to help you avoid a mistake. Real strength isn't having the last word - it's being humble enough to actually receive it.
"He that walketh uprightly walketh surely: but he that perverteth his ways shall be known. "
"Whoever lives with integrity walks securely, but whoever twists their path will eventually be found out."
Living honestly is actually the easier road in the long run, even if it feels harder in the moment - you never have to remember what story you told. I want you free from the exhausting work of hiding things; truth lets you walk steady.
"He that winketh with the eye causeth sorrow: but a prating fool shall fall. "
"Whoever winks slyly causes trouble, and a chattering fool comes to ruin."
Be the same person in private as you are in public - no secret signals, no hidden agendas. Openness costs you something now but saves you and others real pain later.
"The mouth of a righteous man is a well of life: but violence covereth the mouth of the wicked. "
"A righteous person's words are like a well full of life-giving water, but the wicked person's mouth hides violence."
Ask yourself whether your words are a well people want to keep coming back to, or something they need to guard themselves against. I want your voice to be a source of life for the people around you.
"Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins. "
"Hatred stirs up conflict, but love overlooks wrongs."
When someone wrongs you, you get to choose whether that becomes a reason to fight or a chance to forgive - I'm asking you to choose forgiveness, because it's the only thing that actually ends the cycle. Love doesn't ignore the wrong; it simply refuses to let it win.
"In the lips of him that hath understanding wisdom is found: but a rod is for the back of him that is void of understanding. "
"Wisdom is found in the words of someone with understanding, but a person who lacks sense earns himself a beating."
I care more about the wisdom growing in you than about punishment for its own sake - painful consequences exist to wake us up, not to define us. Let correction, however it comes, be something that teaches rather than something that just hurts.
"Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction. "
"Wise people store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites disaster."
Take time to actually learn and think before you speak - a stocked mind makes for better words. I'd rather you build something slowly and speak wisely than blurt out whatever's on the surface.
"The rich man’s wealth is his strong city: the destruction of the poor is their poverty. "
"A rich person's wealth is like a fortified city protecting them; a poor person's poverty is what wrecks them."
If you have resources, remember they're not just protection for you - they're a chance to be a shelter for someone who has none. I notice the poor more than the world does; don't let what you have make you blind to what someone else lacks.
"The labour of the righteous tendeth to life: the fruit of the wicked to sin. "
"What the righteous work for leads to life; what the wicked produce leads to sin."
Ask not just how hard you're working but what your work is actually building towards. I want the effort you pour into your days to be growing something life-giving, not feeding a cycle that only leads back to harm.
"He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth. "
"Whoever holds onto instruction is on the path of life, but whoever rejects correction goes astray."
Don't treat correction as an insult - treat it as a guardrail keeping you from drifting somewhere you don't want to end up. I send people and moments into your life to help you course-correct because I want you to stay on the path that leads to life.
"He that hideth hatred with lying lips, and he that uttereth a slander, is a fool. "
"Whoever hides hatred behind lying words, and whoever spreads slander, is a fool."
Be honest about how you feel rather than faking warmth while quietly working against someone. If you have a grievance, bring it into the open with love, rather than letting it curdle into gossip behind their back.
"In the multitude of words there wanteth not sin: but he that refraineth his lips is wise. "
"Talk too much and sin is bound to slip in somewhere; whoever holds their tongue is wise."
You don't have to fill every silence or have an opinion on everything - some of the wisest moments are the ones where you simply don't speak. Give yourself permission to hold your tongue; it protects both you and the people listening.
"The tongue of the just is as choice silver: the heart of the wicked is little worth. "
"The words of a righteous person are like top-quality silver; the heart of a wicked person is worth almost nothing."
Let your words carry real weight and value, refined by honesty rather than cheapened by carelessness or manipulation. I want what comes from your heart to be something genuinely precious, not something that only looks shiny on the surface.
"The lips of the righteous feed many: but fools die for want of wisdom. "
"The words of the righteous nourish many people, but fools die for lack of wisdom."
What you say has the power to nourish people far beyond yourself, so use your words generously to build others up. And take the pursuit of wisdom seriously - it isn't optional decoration on a life, it's essential to it.
"The blessing of the LORD, it maketh rich, and he addeth no sorrow with it. "
"It's God's blessing that brings true wealth, and he doesn't add any sorrow along with it."
Notice the difference between gain that leaves you lighter and gain that leaves you heavier with worry or guilt - one is a genuine blessing, the other rarely is. I want good things for you that you can actually enjoy without a shadow attached.
"It is as sport to a fool to do mischief: but a man of understanding hath wisdom. "
"A fool finds doing wrong entertaining, like a game; a person of understanding finds wisdom instead."
Pay attention to what actually entertains you - it says something true about where your heart is. I want you to find genuine joy in doing good, not a thrill in cutting corners or hurting someone for a laugh.
"The fear of the wicked, it shall come upon him: but the desire of the righteous shall be granted. "
"What the wicked person dreads will happen to him; what the righteous person longs for will be given to them."
Living rightly frees you from the constant dread of being found out or of things falling apart around your own choices. I want your deepest longings, the good ones, to actually come true - not to be crowded out by fear.
"As the whirlwind passeth, so is the wicked no more: but the righteous is an everlasting foundation. "
"When a storm blows through, the wicked person disappears with it, but the righteous person stands like a foundation that lasts forever."
Don't be dazzled by things that look dramatic and powerful in the moment - ask instead what actually lasts. I want to build your life on something that stands firm long after the noise has passed.
"As vinegar to the teeth, and as smoke to the eyes, so is the sluggard to them that send him. "
"Like vinegar sets your teeth on edge and smoke stings your eyes, that's what a lazy person is like to whoever sends him to do a job."
Think about how it feels to be relied on, and be someone others can actually send to do something without dread. I'd rather your reliability be a relief to people than a source of constant irritation.
"The fear of the LORD prolongeth days: but the years of the wicked shall be shortened. "
"Taking God seriously adds years to your life, but the years of the wicked are cut short."
The way you live really can add or subtract years from your life - reverence and care for how you treat others isn't just spiritually good, it's practically protective. I want you around for a long, full life, not cut short by choices you could have avoided.
"The hope of the righteous shall be gladness: but the expectation of the wicked shall perish. "
"What the righteous hope for turns into joy; what the wicked expect comes to nothing."
Root your hope in something that can actually bear its weight - a life of integrity gives you a hope that doesn't collapse when tested. I want you to be able to hope confidently, not anxiously, because what you're hoping in is real.
"The way of the LORD is strength to the upright: but destruction shall be to the workers of iniquity. "
"Living God's way gives strength to those who do right, but it spells ruin for people who do wrong."
Align your life with what's good and true, and you'll find it actually holds you up rather than wearing you down. Working against your own conscience and against love eventually costs more than it gains - let the good way be your strength, not your struggle.
"The righteous shall never be removed: but the wicked shall not inhabit the earth. "
"The righteous will never be shaken loose, but the wicked won't get to stay in the land."
Build your life on something that can't be shaken loose by circumstance - integrity gives you roots that hold. I want you settled and secure, not scattered by every wind that a dishonest life eventually meets.
"The mouth of the just bringeth forth wisdom: but the froward tongue shall be cut out. "
"The words of a righteous person produce wisdom, but a twisted, deceitful tongue will be silenced."
Let your words be something that grows good into the world rather than twisting truth for your own advantage. I want your voice to keep producing life for as long as you have breath to speak.
"The lips of the righteous know what is acceptable: but the mouth of the wicked speaketh frowardness. "
"A righteous person's words know what's fitting to say, but a wicked person's mouth speaks only twisted, perverse things."
Ask not only "is this true" but "is this the right thing to say right now" - real wisdom includes timing and tact, not just honesty. I want your words to fit the moment with care, so they land as the gift they're meant to be.