Proverbs 19

1 Better to be poor and honest than to be dishonest and a fool.

2 Enthusiasm without knowledge is no good; haste makes mistakes.

3 People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD .

4 Wealth makes many “friends”; poverty drives them all away.

5 A false witness will not go unpunished, nor will a liar escape.

6 Many seek favors from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person who gives gifts!

7 The relatives of the poor despise them; how much more will their friends avoid them! Though the poor plead with them, their friends are gone.

8 To acquire wisdom is to love yourself; people who cherish understanding will prosper.

9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and a liar will be destroyed.

10 It isn’t right for a fool to live in luxury or for a slave to rule over princes!

11 Sensible people control their temper; they earn respect by overlooking wrongs.

12 The king’s anger is like a lion’s roar, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

13 A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.

14 Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the LORD can give an understanding wife.

15 Lazy people sleep soundly, but idleness leaves them hungry.

16 Keep the commandments and keep your life; despising them leads to death.

17 If you help the poor, you are lending to the LORD — and he will repay you!

18 Discipline your children while there is hope. Otherwise you will ruin their lives.

19 Hot-tempered people must pay the penalty. If you rescue them once, you will have to do it again.

20 Get all the advice and instruction you can, so you will be wise the rest of your life.

21 You can make many plans, but the LORD ’s purpose will prevail.

22 Loyalty makes a person attractive. It is better to be poor than dishonest.

23 Fear of the LORD leads to life, bringing security and protection from harm.

24 Lazy people take food in their hand but don’t even lift it to their mouth.

25 If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded will learn a lesson; if you correct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

26 Children who mistreat their father or chase away their mother are an embarrassment and a public disgrace.

27 If you stop listening to instruction, my child, you will turn your back on knowledge.

28 A corrupt witness makes a mockery of justice; the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil.

29 Punishment is made for mockers, and the backs of fools are made to be beaten.

Proverbs 19 Commentary

Chapter 19

Verse 1 A poor man who fears God, is more honourable and happy, than a man without wisdom and grace, however rich or advanced in rank. Verse 2 . What good can the soul do, if without knowledge? And he sins who will not take time to ponder the path of his feet. Verse 3 . Men run into troubles by their own folly, and then fret at the appointments of God. Verse 4 . Here we may see how strong is men's love of money. Verse 5 . Those that tell lies in discourse, are in a fair way to be guilty of bearing false-witness. Verse 6 . We are without excuse if we do not love God with all our hearts. His gifts to us are past number, and all the gifts of men to us are fruits of his bounty. Verse 7 . Christ was left by all his disciples; but the Father was with him. It encourages our faith that he had so large an experience of the sorrows of poverty. Verse 8 . Those only love their souls aright that get true wisdom. Verse 9 . Lying is a damning, destroying sin. Verse 10 . A man that has not wisdom and grace, has no right or title to true joy. It is very unseemly for one who is a servant to sin, to oppress God's free-men. Verse 11 . He attains the most true glory who endeavours most steadily to overcome evil with good. Verse 12 . Christ is a King, whose wrath against his enemies will be as the roaring of a lion, and his favour to his people as the refreshing dew. Verse 13 . It shows the vanity of the world, that we are liable to the greatest griefs where we promise ourselves the greatest comfort. Verse 14 . A discreet and virtuous wife is more valuable than house and riches. Verse 15 . A sluggish, slothful disposition makes men poor; it brings them to want. And this applies both to the present life and that which is to come. Verse 16 . If we keep God's word, God's word will keep us from every thing really hurtful. We abuse the doctrine of free grace, if we think that it does away the necessity and advantage of obedience. Those that live at random must die. This truth is clearly taught in words enough to alarm the stoutest sinner. Verse 17 . God has chosen the poor of this world, to be rich in faith, and heirs of his kingdom. Verse 18 . When parents keep under foolish tenderness, they do their best to render children a comfort to them, and happy in themselves. Verse 19 . The spared and spoiled child is likely to become a man of great wrath. Verse 20 . Those that would be wise in their latter end, must be taught and ruled when young. Verse 21 . What should we desire, but that all our purposes may agree with God's holy will? Verse 22 . It is far better to have a heart to do good, and want ability for it, than to have ability for it, and want a heart to it. Verse 23 . Those that live in the fear of God, shall get safety, satisfaction, and true and complete happiness. Verse 24 . Indolence, when indulged, so grows upon people, that they have no heart to do the most needful things for themselves. Verse 25 . A gentle rebuke goes farthest with a man of understanding. Verse 26 . The young man who wastes his father's substance, or makes his aged mother destitute, is hateful, and will come to disgrace. Verse 27 . It is the wisdom of young men to dread hearing such talk as puts loose and evil principles into the mind. Verse 28 . Those are the worst of sinners, who are glad of an opportunity to sin. Verse 29 . The unbelief of man shall not make God's threatenings of no effect. Christ himself, when bearing sins not his own, was not spared. Justice and judgment took hold of our blessed Surety; and will God spare obstinate sinners?

Footnotes

• [a]. Hebrew son; also in 19:27 .

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 8

This chapter gives an account of the introduction of the ark into the temple, 1Ki 8:1-9 of the glory of the Lord filling it, 1Ki 8:10,11 of a speech Solomon made to the people concerning the building of the temple, and how he came to be engaged in it, 1Ki 8:12-21, of a prayer of his he put up on this occasion, requesting, that what supplications soever were made at any time, or on any account, by Israelites or strangers, might be accepted by the Lord, 1Ki 8:22-53, and of his blessing the people of Israel at the close of it, with some useful exhortations, 1Ki 8:54-61, and of the great number of sacrifices offered up by him, and the feast he made for the people, upon which he dismissed them, 1Ki 8:62-66.