Wise people store up knowledge, But the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
Parallel translations
- WEB Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.
- KJV Wise men lay up knowledge: but the mouth of the foolish is near destruction.
- BSB The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites destruction.
- NASB Wise people store up knowledge, But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand.
- NLT Wise people treasure knowledge, but the babbling of a fool invites disaster.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of the fool invites ruin. The wise prepare and restrain; the fool's reckless words bring disaster.
Overview
Wise people accumulate knowledge for the right moment, while the fool's unrestrained mouth hastens trouble. The contrast is between careful preparation and careless speech. This commends both the gathering of wisdom and the discipline of guarded words, reflecting the value Scripture places on a restrained tongue (Proverbs 17:27-28).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 10:8The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.
- Prov 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Prov 13:3He who guards his mouth guards his soul. One who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.
- Prov 9:9Instruct a wise man, and he will be still wiser. Teach a righteous man, and he will increase in learning.
- Prov 10:10One winking with the eye causes sorrow, but a chattering fool will fall.
- Matt 12:35The good man out of his good treasure brings out good things, and the evil man out of his evil treasure brings out evil things.
- Prov 18:15The heart of the discerning gets knowledge. The ear of the wise seeks knowledge.
- 2 Cor 4:6–7seeing it is God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” who has shone in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.
- Matt 13:44“Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found, and hid. In his joy, he goes and sells all that he has, and buys that field.
- Prov 21:23Whoever guards his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.
- Matt 13:52He said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been made a disciple in the Kingdom of Heaven is like a man who is a householder, who brings out of his treasure new and old things.”
- Prov 1:5that the wise man may hear, and increase in learning; that the man of understanding may attain to sound counsel:
- Prov 18:1An unfriendly man pursues selfishness, and defies all sound judgment.
- Prov 19:8He who gets wisdom loves his own soul. He who keeps understanding shall find good.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 10:14 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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