A wise heart will receive commandments, but foolish lips will come to ruin.
Parallel translations
- WEB The wise in heart accept commandments, but a chattering fool will fall.
- KJV The wise in heart will receive commandments: but a prating fool shall fall.
- NKJV The wise in heart will receive commands, But a prating fool will fall.
- NASB The wise of heart will receive commands, But a babbling fool will come to ruin.
- NLT The wise are glad to be instructed, but babbling fools fall flat on their faces.
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 in heart receive commands, but a babbling fool comes to ruin. The wise take instruction; the foolish talk and fall.
Overview
Here the teachable, obedient heart of the wise is set against the prattling fool who will not listen. Receiving commands shows humility and readiness to obey, while empty chatter leads to downfall. The verse commends a quiet, obedient spirit, the kind of faith that hears Christ's words and acts on them (Matthew 7:24-27).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Matt 7:24–25Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
- Prov 12:1Whoever loves discipline loves knowledge, but he who hates correction is stupid.
- Jas 3:13Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show it by his good conduct, by deeds done in the humility that comes from wisdom.
- Ps 119:34Give me understanding that I may obey Your law, and follow it with all my heart.
- Prov 9:9Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
- Prov 1:5let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel
- Prov 13:3He who guards his mouth protects his life, but the one who opens his lips invites his own ruin.
- Eccl 10:12The words of a wise man’s mouth are gracious, but the lips of a fool consume him.
- Prov 18:6–7A fool’s lips bring him strife, and his mouth invites a beating.
- Prov 10:10He who winks the eye causes grief, and foolish lips will come to ruin.
- Prov 14:23There is profit in all labor, but mere talk leads only to poverty.
- Prov 12:13An evil man is trapped by his rebellious speech, but a righteous man escapes from trouble.
- Prov 14:8The wisdom of the prudent is to discern his way, but the folly of fools deceives them.
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 10:8 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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