14:1 Every wise woman {a} buildeth her house: but the foolish plucketh it down with her hands. (a) That is, takes pains to profit her family, and to do that which concerns her duty in her house. 14:2 He that walketh in his {b} uprightness feareth the LORD: but [he that is] perverse in his ways despiseth him. (b) That is, in uprightness of heart, and without hypocrisy. 14:3 In the mouth of the foolish [is] a {c} rod of pride: but the lips of the wise shall preserve them. (c) His proud tongue will cause him to be punished. 14:4 Where no {d} oxen [are], the crib [is] clean: but much increase [is] by the strength of the ox. (d) By the ox is meant labour, and by the crib the barn, meaning, without labour there is no profit. 14:5 A faithful witness will not lie: but {e} a false witness will utter lies. (e) For the maintenance of his own ambition, and not for God's glory, as Simon Magus. 14:9 Fools make a mock at {f} sin: but among the righteous [there is] favour. (f) Does not know the grievousness of it, nor God's judgments against the same. 14:10 The heart knoweth its own {g} bitterness; and a stranger doth not intermeddle with its joy. (g) As a man's conscience is witness to his own grief, so another cannot feel the joy and comfort which a man feels in himself. 14:13 Even in laughter the heart is sorrowful; {h} and the end of that mirth [is] heaviness. (h) He shows the allurement to sin, that it seems sweet, but the end of it is destruction. 14:14 The backslider in heart {i} shall be filled with his own ways: and a good man [shall be satisfied] from himself. (i) He who forsakes God will be punished, and made weary of his sins, in which he delighted. 14:19 The evil bow before the good; and the wicked {k} at the gates of the righteous. (k) If this come not daily to pass, we must consider that it is because of our sins, which hinder God's workings. 14:28 In the multitude of {l} people [is] the king's honour: but in the lack of people [is] the destruction of the prince. (l) That is, the strength of a king stands in many people. 14:33 Wisdom resteth in the heart of him that hath understanding: but [that which is] {m} in the midst of fools is made known. (m) Forasmuch as they are convicted by it, and silenced. | |