Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 22:29 - 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
" Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won’t serve obscure men. "
Proverbs 22:29
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
27 If you don’t have means to pay, why should he take away your bed from under you?
28 Don’t move the ancient boundary stone which your fathers have set up.
29 Do you see a man skilled in his work? He will serve kings. He won’t serve obscure men.
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Here is a clear hint of how hard it is to find a truly capable, hardworking man: “Do you see a man diligent in his business?” You will not see many like him, because laziness and dullness are so common. The man is praised here who throws himself into his work, even if it is in a very small place and a humble field.
Such a man is not restless when he has nothing to do, because he loves useful work. He is quick and active in it, and he carries it through with steady purpose and with skill. He is a man of dispatch, one who knows how to fit a great deal of work into a short time.
The verse also gives a wise prediction about such a man’s future. Though he may now serve under ordinary people and wait on them, he is likely to rise and stand before kings. He may become an ambassador to foreign kings or a chief minister in his own country.
If this is true in common business, it is even more so in the work of religion. Do you see a man diligent in the business of religion? He is likely to grow in virtue, and he will stand before the King of kings.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 22:1
"A good name is more desirable than great riches, and loving favor is better than silver and gold."
Proverbs 22:2
"The rich and the poor have this in common: The LORD is the maker of them all."
Proverbs 22:3
"A prudent man sees danger and hides himself; but the simple pass on, and suffer for it."
Proverbs 22:4
"The result of humility and the fear of the LORD is wealth, honor, and life."
Proverbs 22:5
"Thorns and snares are in the path of the wicked; whoever guards his soul stays far from them."
Proverbs 22:6
"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it."
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