My son, do not reject the discipline of the LORD, and do not loathe His rebuke;
Parallel translations
- WEB My son, don’t despise Yahweh’s discipline, neither be weary of his reproof:
- KJV My son, despise not the chastening of the LORD; neither be weary of his correction:
- NKJV My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord, Nor detest His correction;
- NASB My son, do not reject the discipline of the Lord Or loathe His rebuke,
- NLT My child, don’t reject the Lord’s discipline, and don’t be upset when he corrects you.
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
Do not despise the Lord's discipline or resent His reproof. It matters because God's correction is part of His care, to be received humbly.
Overview
The teaching turns to suffering: God's discipline should be neither scorned nor wearily resented. Correction is a sign of relationship, not rejection. Hebrews 12:5-6 quotes this very passage to encourage believers that God's discipline confirms our sonship through Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Job 5:17Blessed indeed is the man whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty.
- Rev 3:19Those I love, I rebuke and discipline. Therefore be earnest and repent.
- Heb 12:5–12And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not take lightly the discipline of the Lord, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you.
- Ps 94:12Blessed is the man You discipline, O LORD, and teach from Your law,
- Isa 40:30–31Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall.
- 1 Cor 11:32But when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned with the world.
- 2 Cor 4:16–17Therefore we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, yet our inner self is being renewed day by day.
- 2 Cor 4:1Therefore, since God in His mercy has given us this ministry, we do not lose heart.
- Prov 24:10If you faint in the day of distress, how small is your strength!
- Heb 12:3Consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.
- Job 4:5But now trouble has come upon you, and you are weary. It strikes you, and you are dismayed.
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 3:11 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.