Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 10:14 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin. "
Proverbs 10:14
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
12 Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.
13 Wisdom is found on the lips of him who has discernment, but a rod is for the back of him who is void of understanding.
14 Wise men lay up knowledge, but the mouth of the foolish is near ruin.
15 The rich man’s wealth is his strong city. The destruction of the poor is their poverty.
16 The labor of the righteous leads to life. The increase of the wicked leads to sin.
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Notice this: the wisdom of wise people is that they store up useful knowledge, and that knowledge protects them. That is why wisdom is found on their lips (Proverbs 10:13), because it has first been kept in their hearts. Like a good householder, they bring out things both new and old from that store. Any knowledge that may help us later should be kept, because we do not know when we will need it. We must keep laying it up as long as we live, and we must keep it safely, so it will be ready when we need it.
By contrast, the folly of fools is that they store up trouble in their hearts. It is always ready to come out in what they say, and it brings fear and ruin to others and to themselves. They love devouring words (Psalm 52:4), and those are the words that rise to the top. Their mouth is close to destruction, because they always have sharp arrows of bitter speech ready to shoot at others.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 10:1
"The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son makes a glad father; but a foolish son brings grief to his mother."
Proverbs 10:2
"Treasures of wickedness profit nothing, but righteousness delivers from death."
Proverbs 10:3
"The LORD will not allow the soul of the righteous to go hungry, but he thrusts away the desire of the wicked."
Proverbs 10:4
"He becomes poor who works with a lazy hand, but the hand of the diligent brings wealth."
Proverbs 10:5
"He who gathers in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during the harvest is a son who causes shame."
Proverbs 10:6
"Blessings are on the head of the righteous, but violence covers the mouth of the wicked."
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