Add parallel Print Page Options

Chapter 14

Righteousness Is a Sign of a Nation’s Greatness[a]

Wisdom builds herself a house,
    but Folly tears down hers with her own hands.
One whose conduct is upright fears the Lord,[b]
    but one whose paths are crooked despises him.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 14:1 Fear of God, wisdom, common sense, understanding, and honesty build up one’s life. Folly tarnishes all that it touches; it destroys the values of humans and society, for it is falsehood, vanity, and injustice. The upright take the side of the poor and the lowly, whereas the evildoer is the person without pity and without feelings. In passing, we will pause at the fine psychological notation about human suffering (vv. 10, 13). Readers will take up again the phrase that entices or offends them; the essential thing is to find some points of departure to achieve a more just idea of life.
  2. Proverbs 14:2 Fears the Lord: see note on Prov 1:7.