Proverbs 29

If People Can’t See What God Is Doing

¹29For people who hate discipline

and only get more stubborn,

There’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break,

but by then it’ll be too late to help them.

²When good people run things, everyone is glad,

but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans.

³If you love wisdom, you’ll delight your parents,

but you’ll destroy their trust if you run with whores.

⁴A leader of good judgment gives stability;

an exploiting leader leaves a trail of waste.

⁵A flattering neighbor is up to no good;

he’s probably planning to take advantage of you.

⁶Evil people fall into their own traps;

good people run the other way, glad to escape.

⁷The good-hearted understand what it’s like to be poor;

the hardhearted haven’t the faintest idea.

⁸A gang of cynics can upset a whole city;

a group of sages can calm everyone down.

⁹A sage trying to work things out with a fool

gets only scorn and sarcasm for his trouble.

¹⁰Murderers hate honest people;

moral folks encourage them.

¹¹A fool lets it all hang out;

a sage quietly mulls it over.

¹²When a leader listens to malicious gossip,

all the workers get infected with evil.

¹³The poor and their abusers have at least something in common:

they can both see—their sight, God’s gift!

¹⁴Leadership gains authority and respect

when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.

¹⁵Wise discipline imparts wisdom;

spoiled adolescents embarrass their parents.

¹⁶When degenerates take charge, crime runs wild,

but the righteous will eventually observe their collapse.

¹⁷Discipline your children; you’ll be glad you did—

they’ll turn out delightful to live with.

¹⁸If people can’t see what God is doing,

they stumble all over themselves;

But when they attend to what he reveals,

they are most blessed.

¹⁹It takes more than talk to keep workers in line;

mere words go in one ear and out the other.

²⁰Observe the people who always talk before they think—

even simpletons are better off than they are.

²¹If you let people treat you like a doormat,

you’ll be quite forgotten in the end.

²²Angry people stir up a lot of discord;

the intemperate stir up trouble.

²³Pride lands you flat on your face;

humility prepares you for honors.

²⁴Befriend an outlaw

and become an enemy to yourself.

When the victims cry out,

you’ll be included in their curses

if you’re a coward to their cause in court.

²⁵The fear of human opinion disables;

trusting in God protects you from that.

²⁶Everyone tries to get help from the leader,

but only God will give us justice.

²⁷Good people can’t stand the sight of deliberate evil;

the wicked can’t stand the sight of well-chosen goodness.