Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 15:21 - 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
" Folly is joy to one who is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding keeps his way straight. "
Proverbs 15:21
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
19 The way of the sluggard is like a thorn patch, but the path of the upright is a highway.
20 A wise son makes a father glad, but a foolish man despises his mother.
21 Folly is joy to one who is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding keeps his way straight.
22 Where there is no counsel, plans fail; but in a multitude of counselors they are established.
23 Joy comes to a man with the reply of his mouth. How good is a word at the right time!
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It is the mark of a wicked person that he takes pleasure in sin. He is drawn to it like bait, swallows it eagerly, and feels no fear of the trap it brings. Foolishness itself is his joy, and the foolishness of others is pleasing to him too. His own sin gives him even more delight. He sins not only without regret, but with pleasure, and he even boasts about it. That is a sure sign of someone who has not received God's grace.
It is also the mark of a wise and good person that he takes duty seriously. A fool lives carelessly, goes wherever he pleases, and has no steady rule for life. He acts without sincerity or firmness. But a person of understanding, whose mind has been opened by the Spirit, walks in an upright way. If someone does not have good understanding, he has no true understanding at all. Such a person lives in a sober, orderly, and regular way, and tries in everything to fit himself to God's will. That is his steady joy.
Yet whatever foolishness still remains in him, or comes out of him from time to time, becomes a grief to him, and he is ashamed of it. In these two kinds of people, we can examine ourselves.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 15:1
"A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger."
Proverbs 15:2
"The tongue of the wise commends knowledge, but the mouths of fools gush out folly."
Proverbs 15:3
"The LORD’s eyes are everywhere, keeping watch on the evil and the good."
Proverbs 15:4
"A gentle tongue is a tree of life, but deceit in it crushes the spirit."
Proverbs 15:5
"A fool despises his father’s correction, but he who heeds reproof shows prudence."
Proverbs 15:6
"In the house of the righteous is much treasure, but the income of the wicked brings trouble."
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