Correction is grievous unto him that forsaketh the way: and he that hateth reproof shall die.
Parallel translations
- WEB There is stern discipline for one who forsakes the way: whoever hates reproof shall die.
- BSB Discipline is harsh for him who leaves the path; he who hates correction will die.
- ESV There is severe discipline for him who forsakes the way; whoever hates reproof will die.
- NKJV Harsh discipline is for him who forsakes the way, And he who hates correction will die.
- NASB There is severe punishment for one who abandons the way; One who hates a rebuke will die.
- NLT Whoever abandons the right path will be severely disciplined; whoever hates correction will die.
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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
Stern discipline awaits those who abandon the right way, and hating correction leads to death. Rejecting reproof is deadly.
Overview
This proverb warns that forsaking the path of life invites severe discipline, and that to hate reproof is to court death. It presents correction not as cruelty but as a means of preserving life. The seriousness here points to the eternal stakes of refusing God's correcting word and the life found only in heeding it.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 13
- Prov 12:1Whoso loveth instruction loveth knowledge: but he that hateth reproof is brutish.
- Prov 13:1A wise son heareth his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.
- John 3:20For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.
- Prov 10:17He is in the way of life that keepeth instruction: but he that refuseth reproof erreth.
- John 7:7The world cannot hate you; but me it hateth, because I testify of it, that the works thereof are evil.
- 1 Kgs 21:20And Ahab said to Elijah, Hast thou found me, O mine enemy? And he answered, I have found thee: because thou hast sold thyself to work evil in the sight of the LORD.
- 1 Kgs 18:17And it came to pass, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said unto him, Art thou he that troubleth Israel?
- Ezek 24:13–14In thy filthiness is lewdness: because I have purged thee, and thou wast not purged, thou shalt not be purged from thy filthiness any more, till I have caused my fury to rest upon thee.
- Prov 1:30They would none of my counsel: they despised all my reproof.
- 1 Kgs 22:8And the king of Israel said unto Jehoshaphat, There is yet one man, Micaiah the son of Imlah, by whom we may enquire of the LORD: but I hate him; for he doth not prophesy good concerning me, but evil. And Jehoshaphat said, Let not the king say so.
- Prov 5:12And say, How have I hated instruction, and my heart despised reproof;
- Prov 23:35They have stricken me, shalt thou say, and I was not sick; they have beaten me, and I felt it not: when shall I awake? I will seek it yet again.
- Isa 1:5–6Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
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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 15:10 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.