Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 14:15 - 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
" A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways. "
Proverbs 14:15
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
13 Even in laughter the heart may be sorrowful, and mirth may end in heaviness.
14 The unfaithful will be repaid for his own ways; likewise a good man will be rewarded for his ways.
15 A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways.
16 A wise man fears and shuns evil, but the fool is hot headed and reckless.
17 He who is quick to become angry will commit folly, and a crafty man is hated.
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It is foolish to be too ready to believe whatever you hear. A person who listens to every rumor, accepts every story, or trusts every promise without question shows weak judgment. This includes taking things on hearsay, believing common reports, or relying on every claim of friendship and payment. Such people are simple, because they “believe every word” and forget that, in a sense, all people are unreliable compared with God. God cannot lie, so his words deserve full trust.
It is wise to be careful. A prudent person tests things before trusting them. He weighs both the honesty of the speaker and the likely truth of what is said, and then decides according to what seems clear. If the matter is still uncertain, he holds back his judgment until it becomes clear. In this way we should “test all things” and “not believe every spirit” (1 Thessalonians 5:21; 1 John 4:1).
From This Chapter
Proverbs 14:1
"Every wise woman builds her house, but the foolish one tears it down with her own hands."
Proverbs 14:2
"He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD, but he who is perverse in his ways despises him."
Proverbs 14:3
"The fool’s talk brings a rod to his back, but the lips of the wise protect them."
Proverbs 14:4
"Where no oxen are, the crib is clean, but much increase is by the strength of the ox."
Proverbs 14:5
"A truthful witness will not lie, but a false witness pours out lies."
Proverbs 14:6
"A scoffer seeks wisdom, and doesn’t find it, but knowledge comes easily to a discerning person."
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