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Proverbs 14:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Proverbs 14:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Chapter 14
Righteousness Is a Sign of a Nation’s Greatness[a]
1 Wisdom builds herself a house,
but Folly tears down hers with her own hands.
2 One whose conduct is upright fears the Lord,[b]
but one whose paths are crooked despises him.
3 The words of a fool ensure a rod for his back,[c]
but the lips of the wise keep them safe.
Footnotes
- Proverbs 14:1 Fear of God, wisdom, common sense, understanding, and honesty build up one’s life. Folly tarnishes all that it touches; it destroys the values of humans and society, for it is falsehood, vanity, and injustice. The upright take the side of the poor and the lowly, whereas the evildoer is the person without pity and without feelings. In passing, we will pause at the fine psychological notation about human suffering (vv. 10, 13). Readers will take up again the phrase that entices or offends them; the essential thing is to find some points of departure to achieve a more just idea of life.
- Proverbs 14:2 Fears the Lord: see note on Prov 1:7.
- Proverbs 14:3 Rod for his back: see note on Prov 13:24.
