Proverbs 19:1-14

1 Better the poor whose walk is blameless than a fool whose lips are perverse.

2 Desire without knowledge is not good— how much more will hasty feet miss the way!

3 A person’s own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the LORD.

4 Wealth attracts many friends, but even the closest friend of the poor person deserts them.

5 A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will not go free.

6 Many curry favor with a ruler, and everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.

7 The poor are shunned by all their relatives— how much more do their friends avoid them! Though the poor pursue them with pleading, they are nowhere to be found.^[a]

8 The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.

9 A false witness will not go unpunished, and whoever pours out lies will perish.

10 It is not fitting for a fool to live in luxury— how much worse for a slave to rule over princes!

11 A person’s wisdom yields patience; it is to one’s glory to overlook an offense.

12 A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, but his favor is like dew on the grass.

13 A foolish child is a father’s ruin, and a quarrelsome wife is like the constant dripping of a leaky roof.

14 Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the LORD.

Proverbs 19:1-14 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. Proverbs 28:6
• 2. Proverbs 29:20
• 3. Psalms 14:1; Proverbs 9:13; Proverbs 24:9; Isaiah 32:6
• 4. James 1:13-15
• 5. ver 7; Proverbs 14:20
• 6. S Exodus 23:1
• 7. S Psalms 56:7
• 8. ver 9; S Deuteronomy 19:19; Proverbs 21:28
• 9. Proverbs 29:26
• 10. S Proverbs 17:8; S Proverbs 18:16
• 11. Proverbs 10:15
• 12. S ver 4; Psalms 38:11
• 13. S Proverbs 16:20
• 14. S ver 5; S Deuteronomy 19:19
• 15. Proverbs 26:1
• 16. Proverbs 30:21-23; Ecclesiastes 10:5-7
• 17. S 2 Kings 5:12; Proverbs 16:32
• 18. Proverbs 20:2
• 19. S Psalms 133:3
• 20. S Esther 1:12; S Esther 7:7; Psalms 72:5-6; Proverbs 16:14-15
• 21. S Proverbs 10:1
• 22. S Esther 1:18; Proverbs 21:9
• 23. 2 Corinthians 12:14
• 24. S Proverbs 18:22

Footnotes

• [a]. The meaning of the Hebrew for this sentence is uncertain.