Hear instruction, and be wise, and refuse it not.
Parallel translations
- WEB Hear instruction, and be wise. Don’t refuse it.
- BSB Listen to instruction and be wise; do not ignore it.
- NKJV Hear instruction and be wise, And do not disdain it.
- NASB “Listen to instruction and be wise, And do not neglect it.
- NLT Listen to my instruction and be wise. Don’t ignore it.
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
We are urged to hear instruction, become wise, and not refuse it. Wisdom is gained by humbly receiving correction.
Overview
Wisdom presses her appeal with an urgent command not to neglect or reject her teaching. The exhortation assumes that instruction is freely available but must be willingly received. This reflects the consistent biblical call to a teachable heart, the humility that James commends in receiving the implanted word (James 1:21).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Prov 4:1Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding.
- Ps 81:11–12But my people would not hearken to my voice; and Israel would none of me.
- Prov 5:1My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:
- Prov 1:8My son, hear the instruction of thy father, and forsake not the law of thy mother:
- Prov 1:2–3To know wisdom and instruction; to perceive the words of understanding;
- Rom 10:16–17But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Esaias saith, Lord, who hath believed our report?
- Heb 12:25See that ye refuse not him that speaketh. For if they escaped not who refused him that spake on earth, much more shall not we escape, if we turn away from him that speaketh from heaven:
- Prov 1:21She crieth in the chief place of concourse, in the openings of the gates: in the city she uttereth her words, saying,
- Isa 55:1–3Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
- Acts 7:35–37This Moses whom they refused, saying, Who made thee a ruler and a judge? the same did God send to be a ruler and a deliverer by the hand of the angel which appeared to him in the bush.
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 8:33 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.