Proverbs 22:14-16
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
14 The mouth of the foreign woman is a deep pit;(A)
whoever incurs the Lord’s anger will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound to the heart of a youth,
but the rod of discipline will drive it out.[a]
16 Oppressing the poor for enrichment,
giving to the rich: both are sheer loss.[b]
Footnotes
- 22:15 Folly is attached to children as the husk is attached to the grain. “Rod” here, as in v. 8, seems to be the flail. Discipline is the process of winnowing away the folly.
- 22:16 A difficult saying. One possibility is to take it as a seemingly neutral observation on the plight of the poor: taking money from the poor is relatively easy for the powerful but it is dangerous as the poor have the Lord as their defender (24:22–23), who will punish their oppressors. Giving to the rich, perhaps to win their favor by presents and bribes, is equally a waste of money, for the rich will always do what they please in any case.
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