He that refuseth instruction despiseth his own soul: but he that heareth reproof getteth understanding.
Parallel translations
- WEB He who refuses correction despises his own soul, but he who listens to reproof gets understanding.
- BSB He who ignores discipline despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
- NKJV He who disdains instruction despises his own soul, But he who heeds rebuke gets understanding.
- NASB One who neglects discipline rejects himself, But one who listens to a rebuke acquires understanding.
- NLT If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.
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
Rejecting correction harms oneself, but heeding reproof gains understanding. It matters because how we respond to discipline shapes our own soul for good or ill.
Overview
Closely linked to the previous verse, this proverb warns that refusing correction is self-destructive, while accepting it grows wisdom. To despise reproof is to despise one's own well-being. The teachable heart that submits to God's correcting word grows in understanding and life.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 19
- Rev 3:19As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten: be zealous therefore, and repent.
- Prov 1:24–33Because I have called, and ye refused; I have stretched out my hand, and no man regarded;
- Prov 1:7The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.
- Jer 5:3O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return.
- Prov 8:33–36Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
- Prov 18:15The heart of the prudent getteth knowledge; and the ear of the wise seeketh knowledge.
- Isa 1:5Why should ye be stricken any more? ye will revolt more and more: the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.
- Prov 29:1He, that being often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall suddenly be destroyed, and that without remedy.
- Prov 15:21Folly is joy to him that is destitute of wisdom: but a man of understanding walketh uprightly.
- Prov 17:16Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
- Prov 5:11–13And thou mourn at the last, when thy flesh and thy body are consumed,
- Matt 7:24–27Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:
- Deut 21:18If a man have a stubborn and rebellious son, which will not obey the voice of his father, or the voice of his mother, and that, when they have chastened him, will not hearken unto them:
- Ps 50:17Seeing thou hatest instruction, and casteth my words behind thee.
- Deut 21:20And they shall say unto the elders of his city, This our son is stubborn and rebellious, he will not obey our voice; he is a glutton, and a drunkard.
- Jas 1:22But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.
- Prov 15:14The heart of him that hath understanding seeketh knowledge: but the mouth of fools feedeth on foolishness.
- 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.
- Heb 12:15Looking diligently lest any man fail of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby many be defiled;
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 15:32 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.