Know therefore that wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, there is a future for you, and your hope will never be cut off.
Parallel translations
- WEB so you shall know wisdom to be to your soul; if you have found it, then there will be a reward, your hope will not be cut off.
- KJV So shall the knowledge of wisdom be unto thy soul: when thou hast found it, then there shall be a reward, and thy expectation shall not be cut off.
- NKJV So shall the knowledge of wisdom be to your soul; If you have found it, there is a prospect, And your hope will not be cut off.
- NASB Know that wisdom is the same for your soul; If you find it, then there will be a future, And your hope will not be cut off.
- NLT In the same way, wisdom is sweet to your soul. If you find it, you will have a bright future, and your hopes will not be cut short.
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
Wisdom is to the soul what honey is to the taste, sweet, and it secures a hope that endures.
Overview
As honey delights the body, wisdom delights and nourishes the soul, and finding it brings a sure reward. The promise that "your hope will not be cut off" echoes 23:18, grounding the believer's future in wisdom rooted in the fear of God. This points to Christ, the wisdom of God, in whom our hope is anchored and secure (1 Cor. 1:30; Heb. 6:19).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Jas 1:25But the one who looks intently into the perfect law of freedom, and continues to do so—not being a forgetful hearer, but an effective doer—he will be blessed in what he does.
- Prov 2:10For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will delight your soul.
- Jer 15:16Your words were found, and I ate them. Your words became my joy and my heart’s delight. For I bear Your name, O LORD God of Hosts.
- Prov 23:18For surely there is a future, and your hope will not be cut off.
- Ps 119:103How sweet are Your words to my taste—sweeter than honey in my mouth!
- Prov 22:18for it is pleasing when you keep them within you and they are constantly on your lips.
- Prov 2:1–5My son, if you accept my words and hide my commandments within you,
- Prov 3:13–18Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, the man who acquires understanding,
- Ps 119:111Your testimonies are my heritage forever, for they are the joy of my heart.
- Ps 19:10–11They are more precious than gold, than much pure gold; they are sweeter than honey, than honey from the comb.
- Matt 19:21Jesus told him, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.”
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 24:14 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.