Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 14:30 - 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
" The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones. "
Proverbs 14:30
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
28 In the multitude of people is the king’s glory, but in the lack of people is the destruction of the prince.
29 He who is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a quick temper displays folly.
30 The life of the body is a heart at peace, but envy rots the bones.
31 He who oppresses the poor shows contempt for his Maker, but he who is kind to the needy honors him.
32 The wicked is brought down in his calamity, but in death, the righteous has a refuge.
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The verse before this showed how much our reputation depends on governing our passions and keeping a steady mind. This verse shows the same is true of our health. A calm, healing spirit, full of love and gentleness, with a warm, friendly, cheerful temper, is a help to the body and the support of good health. People often stay strong and even grow well when they keep a good spirit.
By contrast, a fretful, envious, and unhappy spirit punishes itself. It wears the body down, drains a person’s strength, makes the face look pale, and is like rottenness in the bones. Those who look at other people’s success and are troubled by it may clench their teeth and waste away, as Psalm 112:10 says. Envy destroys the envious person first. Whoever bursts with envy, let him burst.
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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