Proverbs 11:29

29 Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air; common sense tells you it's a stupid way to live.

Proverbs 11:29 Meaning and Commentary

Proverbs 11:29

He that troubleth his own house
His family, his wife, and children, and servants; by being bitter to the one, and by provoking the others to wrath, and continually giving out menacing words to the rest; or through idleness, not providing for his family; or through an over worldly spirit, pushing on business, and hurrying it on beyond measure; or through a niggardly and avaricious temper, withholding meat and drink, and clothes convenient for them; see ( Proverbs 15:27 ) ; or through profuseness and prodigality. Such an one shall inherit the wind;
nothing but vanity and emptiness; he shall come to nothing, and get nothing; and what he does, be shall not keep, and on which he cannot live; and the fool [shall be] servant to the wise of heart;
he who has both got and lost his substance in a foolish way shall be so reduced as to become a servant to him who has pursued wise measures, both in getting and keeping what he has; and to whom perhaps the fool formerly stood in the relation of a master. Such a change will be with respect to antichrist and the saints, ( Daniel 7:25-27 ) .

Proverbs 11:29 In-Context

27 The one who seeks good finds delight; the student of evil becomes evil.
28 A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump; a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
29 Exploit or abuse your family, and end up with a fistful of air; common sense tells you it's a stupid way to live.
30 A good life is a fruit-bearing tree; a violent life destroys souls.
31 If good people barely make it, what's in store for the bad!
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.