Proverbs 14:16–18

PROVERBS CHAPTER 14.

V. 16. A wise man feareth and departeth from evil, dreading its power and preferring to keep his distance; but the fool rageth, in carnal presumption and insolence, and is confident, foolishly believing himself to be able to avoid the consequences of his sinful folly, rushing wildly into his own destruction.

V. 17. He that is soon angry, losing his temper at the slightest provocation, dealeth foolishly, working only folly, with evil consequences to himself; and a man of wicked devices is hated, since he, with his malicious craft and hypocritical subtlety, is even more dangerous than he who flies into a passion at the slightest provocation.

V. 18. The simple inherit folly, that is the portion of those who will not learn wisdom, who will not be guided by the experiences of others; but the prudent are crowned with knowledge, they embrace, they accumulate, knowledge as a precious possession.