Proverbs — Chapter 13
A wise son—it is through the discipline of his father;A scoffer—he never heard reproof.
A man enjoys good from the fruit of his speech;But out of the throat of the treacherous comes lawlessness.
Those who guard their tongueatongue Lit. “mouth.” preserve their life;Those who open wide their lips, it is their ruin.
A sluggard craves, but has nothing;The diligent shall feast on rich fare.
The righteous hate lies;The wicked are vile and disgraceful.
Righteousness protects the one whose way is blameless;Wickedness subverts the sinner.
Some pretend to be rich and have nothing;Others profess to be poor and have much wealth.
Riches are ransom for a person’s life,The poor never heard a reproof.
The light of the righteous is radiant;The lamp of the wicked is extinguished.
Arrogance yields nothing but strife;bArrogance yields nothing but strife Meaning of Heb. uncertain. Wisdom belongs to those who seek advice.
Wealth may dwindle to less than nothing,But one who gathers little by little increases it.
Hope deferred sickens the heart,But desire realized is a tree of life.
One who disdains a precept will be injured thereby;One who respects a command will be rewarded.
The instruction of the wise is a fountain of life,Enabling one to avoid deadly snares.
Good sense wins favor;The way of treacherous men is unchanging.cunchanging Or “harsh.”
Those who are clever act knowledgeably,But dullards expose their stupidity.
Harm befalls a wicked messenger;A faithful courier brings healing.
Poverty and humiliation are for the one who spurns discipline;But one who takes reproof to heart gets honor.
Desire realized is sweet to the soul;To turn away from evil is abhorrent to the stupid.
One who keeps company with the wise becomes wise,But one who consorts with dullards comes to grief.
Misfortune pursues sinners,But the righteous are well rewarded.
A good man has what to bequeath to his grandchildren,For the wealth of sinners is stored up for the righteous.
The tillage of the poor yields much food;But substance is swept away for lack of moderation.
He who spares the rod hates his son,But he who loves him disciplines him early.
The righteous person eats to satiety,But the belly of the wicked is empty.
✦ Connected Across Traditions
The Golden Rule
Matthew 7:12
“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”
Hadith (An-Nawawi 13)
“None of you truly believes until he wishes for his brother what he wishes for himself.”
Mahabharata 5.1517
“One should never do to another what one regards as injurious to oneself.”
Dhammapada 10:1
“All tremble at violence; all fear death. Putting oneself in the place of another, one should not kill nor cause another to kill.”
The Path to Wisdom
Dhammapada 20:282
“Wisdom springs from meditation; without meditation wisdom wanes.”
Analects 2:11
“If you study the past and use it to understand the present, you are worthy of being a teacher.”
Tao Te Ching 33
“Knowing others is intelligence; knowing yourself is true wisdom.”
Quran 39:9
“Are those who know equal to those who do not know?”
Humility & Surrender
Bhagavad Gita 18:66
“Abandon all varieties of dharma and simply surrender unto Me. I shall deliver you from all sinful reactions; do not fear.”
Matthew 5:5
“Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.”
Tao Te Ching 22
“If you want to become whole, let yourself be partial. If you want to become full, let yourself be empty.”
Quran 2:45
“Seek help through patience and prayer. It is indeed exacting, but not for those who are humble.”
Good vs Evil / Light vs Darkness
Yasna 30:3
“Now the two primal Spirits, who reveal themselves as Twins, are the Better and the Bad, in thought and word and action.”
John 1:5
“The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
Dhammapada 1:1-2
“Mind is the forerunner of all actions. If one speaks or acts with a pure mind, happiness follows like a shadow.”
Bhagavad Gita 16:21
“There are three gates to self-destructive hell: lust, anger, and greed. Therefore, one must learn to give these up.”