Proverbs Chapter 9
Showing all 18 verses for Proverbs Chapter 9.
The People's Bible is written by people, for the people. Each verse below shows:
"Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars: "
"Wisdom is pictured as a woman who has built herself a grand house, carving out seven strong pillars to hold it up."
I want you to know that the life I'm offering you isn't a shaky lean-to - it's a house built to last, with room made for you in it. Come and see that a life grounded in genuine wisdom can hold weight when the storms come.
"She hath killed her beasts; she hath mingled her wine; she hath also furnished her table. "
"She has slaughtered animals for meat, mixed her wine, and laid a table full of food."
I don't call you to a meagre, joyless existence - I spread a table and want you to feast on what's genuinely good for you. Real wisdom is generous, not withholding; come hungry and be filled.
"She hath sent forth her maidens: she crieth upon the highest places of the city, "
"She has sent out her servant girls, and she herself calls out from the highest points in the city."
I'm not selective about who gets to hear this - I call out to everyone, including the people society overlooks. If you've ever felt wisdom was "not for people like you," hear this: the invitation is shouted from the highest place precisely so nobody misses it.
"Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, "
""Whoever is naive, come in here," she says to the person who lacks good judgement."
Come as you are, not as you think you should be first. I'm not waiting for you to become impressive before I welcome you in - the invitation is for the person who's still finding their way.
"Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled. "
""Come and eat my food, and drink the wine I've prepared.""
Don't just admire good teaching from the sidelines - taste it, live it, let it become part of you. Wisdom that stays theoretical never feeds anyone.
"Forsake the foolish, and live; and go in the way of understanding. "
""Leave foolish ways behind and live; walk the path of understanding.""
I'm not asking you to add a few good habits to a life that's otherwise unchanged - I'm asking you to actually turn and walk a different way. That turning is hard, but it's the road that leads somewhere worth going.
"He that reproveth a scorner getheth to himself shame: and he that rebuketh a wicked man getheth himself a blot. "
"Correct a mocker and you'll only get insulted for it; correct a wicked person and you'll get a stain on yourself for the trouble."
I want you to be wise about where you spend your energy trying to help someone see clearly. Don't exhaust or wound yourself trying to convince someone who has already decided to mock you for it - save your breath for those ready to listen.
"Reprove not a scorner, lest he hate thee: rebuke a wise man, and he will love thee. "
"Don't correct a mocker, or he'll hate you for it; correct a wise person instead, and he'll love you for it."
How you respond when someone points something out about you says everything about where you're at. I want you to become the kind of person who can hear a hard truth and love the one who told you it, rather than lashing out.
"Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. "
"Teach a wise person and they'll grow even wiser; teach someone who does right and they'll learn even more."
Growth never has to stop - the more open you are, the more there is for you to receive. Stay teachable your whole life, and you'll keep discovering there was always more good waiting for you.
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom: and the knowledge of the holy is understanding. "
"Taking God seriously, being in awe of him, is where real wisdom starts; knowing the Holy One is what understanding actually is."
True wisdom starts with humility, not with knowing more facts than everyone else. When you stop pretending you're the ultimate authority on your own life, you finally become able to actually learn something real.
"For by me thy days shall be multiplied, and the years of thy life shall be increased. "
""Through me your days will be multiplied, and years will be added to your life.""
The choices you make really do shape how much life you get to actually live - wisdom isn't just about being good, it's about not needlessly shortening your own days. I want abundant life for you, not a life cut short by avoidable foolishness.
"If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it. "
"If you're wise, the benefit is yours; if you mock and scoff, you alone carry the consequences."
I can walk beside you, but I can't make your choices for you - the outcomes of how you live really do land on you. Take ownership of your path, because that ownership is also what makes real change possible.
"A foolish woman is clamorous: she is simple, and knoweth nothing. "
"Folly is a loud, restless woman - naive, and she doesn't understand a thing."
Don't mistake volume for value. The loudest voice pulling for your attention isn't always the one that actually knows where it's leading you - learn to notice when noise is covering for emptiness.
"For she sitheth at the door of her house, on a seat in the high places of the city, "
"She sits at the door of her house, on a seat up in the high parts of the town."
Not everything that looks confident and visible is good for you - learn to look past the packaging. I want you discerning enough to recognise when something dressed as opportunity is actually a trap.
"To call passengers who go right on their ways: "
"Calling out to people passing by who are minding their own business, going about their day."
Temptation often doesn't wait for you to go looking for it - it interrupts an ordinary day. Stay awake and aware even in the routine moments, because that's often exactly when a distraction tries to pull you off course.
"Whoso is simple, let him turn in hither: and as for him that wanteth understanding, she saith to him, "
""Whoever is naive, come in here," she says to the person who lacks judgement."
Learn to listen past the opening line and ask what's actually being offered underneath it. I want you wise enough to tell the difference between two voices that can sound the same at first but lead somewhere completely different.
"Stolen waters are sweet, and bread eaten in secret is pleasant. "
""Stolen water tastes sweet, and food eaten in secret is enjoyable.""
I won't pretend the wrong path never feels good - sometimes it does, in the moment, and that's precisely its trap. What matters is what it costs afterwards, and I'd rather you have something real and lasting than something thrilling and stolen.
"But he knoweth not that the dead are there; and that her guests are in the depths of hell. "
"But he has no idea that dead people are already there, that her earlier guests are down in the depths of the grave."
I don't want you finding out the hard way what a path really costs - that's why I keep pointing out where it leads before you walk through the door. Trust that the warning comes from love, not from wanting to spoil your fun; I can see further down the road than you can from where you're standing.