A discerning heart seeks knowledge, but the mouth of a fool feeds on folly.
Parallel translations
- WEB The heart of one who has understanding seeks knowledge, but the mouths of fools feed on folly.
- KJV The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
- NKJV The heart of him who has understanding seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.
- NASB The mind of the intelligent seeks knowledge, But the mouth of fools feeds on foolishness.
- NLT A wise person is hungry for knowledge, while the fool feeds on trash.
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 discerning heart seeks knowledge, but fools feed on folly. We are nourished by what we pursue.
Overview
The understanding heart hungers and searches for knowledge, while the fool's appetite is for folly. The proverb pictures the mind as feeding on what it craves, for good or ill. It urges us to set our desires on true wisdom, ultimately found in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Prov 9:9Instruct a wise man, and he will be wiser still; teach a righteous man, and he will increase his learning.
- Isa 30:10They say to the seers, “Stop seeing visions!” and to the prophets, “Do not prophesy to us the truth! Speak to us pleasant words; prophesy illusions.
- Prov 18:15The heart of the discerning acquires knowledge, and the ear of the wise seeks it out.
- 2 Pet 3:18But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen.
- Acts 17:11Now the Bereans were more noble-minded than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if these teachings were true.
- Prov 1:5let the wise listen and gain instruction, and the discerning acquire wise counsel
- Hos 12:1Ephraim chases the wind and pursues the east wind all day long; he multiplies lies and violence; he makes a covenant with Assyria and sends olive oil to Egypt.
- 1 Kgs 3:6–12Solomon replied, “You have shown much loving devotion to Your servant, my father David, because he walked before You in faithfulness, righteousness, and uprightness of heart. And You have maintained this loving devotion by giving him a son to sit on his throne this very day.
- Ps 119:97Oh, how I love Your law! All day long it is my meditation.
- Isa 44:20He feeds on ashes. His deluded heart has led him astray, and he cannot deliver himself or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”
- Ps 119:100I discern more than the elders, for I obey Your precepts.
- Prov 12:23A shrewd man keeps his knowledge to himself, but a foolish heart proclaims its folly.
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 15:14 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
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.