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Read the Bible

New Living Translation

Proverbs 9:12

If you become wise, you will be the one to benefit. If you scorn wisdom, you will be the one to suffer.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Infidelity;   Scoffing;   Wisdom;   Thompson Chain Reference - Personal Responsibility;   Responsibility;   Stewardship-Ownership;  

Dictionaries:

- Holman Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, Book of;   Scoffer;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Old Testament (Ii. Christ as Student and Interpreter of).;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Scorn;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
If you are wise, you are wise for your own benefit;if you mock, you alone will bear the consequences.”
Hebrew Names Version
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.
King James Version
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
English Standard Version
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
New American Standard Bible
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will suffer from it.
New Century Version
The wise person is rewarded by wisdom, but whoever makes fun of wisdom will suffer for it."
New English Translation
If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage, but if you are a mocker, you alone must bear it.
Amplified Bible
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself [for your own benefit]; If you scoff [thoughtlessly ridicule and disdain], you alone will pay the penalty.
World English Bible
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself. If you mock, you alone will bear it.
Geneva Bible (1587)
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thy selfe, and if thou be a scorner, thou alone shalt suffer.
Legacy Standard Bible
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself,And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
Berean Standard Bible
If you are wise, you are wise to your own advantage; but if you scoff, you alone will bear the consequences.
Contemporary English Version
Good sense is good for you, but if you brag, you hurt yourself.
Complete Jewish Bible
If you are wise, your wisdom helps you; but if you scoff, you bear the consequences alone."
Darby Translation
If thou art wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself; and if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
Easy-to-Read Version
If you become wise, it will be for your own good. If you are rude and show no respect, you are the one who will suffer.
George Lamsa Translation
My son, if you are wise, you are wise for yourself and for your friends; but if you are evil-minded, you alone shall bear your evils;
Good News Translation
You are the one who will profit if you have wisdom, and if you reject it, you are the one who will suffer.
Lexham English Bible
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, and if you scoff, alone you shall bear it.
Literal Translation
If you are wise, you shall be wise for yourself, but if you scorn, you alone shall bear it .
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Yf thou be wyse, yi wysdome shal do yi selfe good: but yf thou thynkest scorne therof, it shalbe thine owne harme.
American Standard Version
If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself; And if thou scoffest, thou alone shalt bear it.
Bible in Basic English
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if your heart is full of pride, you only will have the pain of it.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself; and if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.'
King James Version (1611)
If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thy selfe: but if thou scornest, thou alone shalt beare it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
If thou be wise, thy wysdome shal do thy selfe good: but if thou thinkest scorne therof, it shalbe thine owne harme.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Son, if thou be wise for thyself, thou shalt also be wise for thy neighbours; and if thou shouldest prove wicked, thou alone wilt bear the evil. He that stays himself upon falsehoods, attempts to rule the winds, and the same will pursue birds in their fight: for he has forsaken the ways of his own vineyard, and he has caused the axles of his own husbandry to go astray; and he goes through a dry desert, and a land appointed to drought, and he gathers barrenness with his hands.
English Revised Version
If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself: and if thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear it.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
If thou art wijs; thou schalt be to thi silf, and to thi neiyboris. Forsothe if thou art a scornere; thou aloone schalt bere yuel.
Update Bible Version
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; And if you scoff, you alone shall bear it.
Webster's Bible Translation
If thou art wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself: but [if] thou scornest, thou alone shalt bear [it].
New King James Version
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone."
New Life Bible
If you are wise, your wisdom is a help to you. If you laugh at the truth, you alone will suffer for it.
New Revised Standard
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
If thou art wise, thou art wise for thyself, but, if thou scoff, alone, shalt thou bear it.
Douay-Rheims Bible
If thou be wise, thou shalt be so to thyself: and if a scorner, thou alone shalt bear the evil.
Revised Standard Version
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself; if you scoff, you alone will bear it.
Young's Literal Translation
If thou hast been wise, thou hast been wise for thyself, And thou hast scorned -- thyself bearest [it].
New American Standard Bible (1995)
If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you alone will bear it.

Contextual Overview

1 Wisdom has built her house; she has carved its seven columns. 2 She has prepared a great banquet, mixed the wines, and set the table. 3 She has sent her servants to invite everyone to come. She calls out from the heights overlooking the city. 4 "Come in with me," she urges the simple. To those who lack good judgment, she says, 5 "Come, eat my food, and drink the wine I have mixed. 6 Leave your simple ways behind, and begin to live; learn to use good judgment." 7 Anyone who rebukes a mocker will get an insult in return. Anyone who corrects the wicked will get hurt. 8 So don't bother correcting mockers; they will only hate you. But correct the wise, and they will love you. 9 Instruct the wise, and they will be even wiser. Teach the righteous, and they will learn even more. 10 Fear of the Lord is the foundation of wisdom. Knowledge of the Holy One results in good judgment.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 16:26, Job 22:2, Job 22:3, Job 22:21, Job 35:6, Job 35:7, Isaiah 28:22, Ezekiel 18:20, 2 Peter 3:3, 2 Peter 3:4, 2 Peter 3:16

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 6:24 - for our good Deuteronomy 10:13 - for thy Job 5:27 - for thy good Job 19:4 - mine Psalms 1:1 - scornful Proverbs 3:34 - he scorneth Proverbs 19:29 - Judgments Zechariah 12:14 - and

Cross-References

Genesis 9:17
Then God said to Noah, "Yes, this rainbow is the sign of the covenant I am confirming with all the creatures on earth."
Genesis 9:23
Then Shem and Japheth took a robe, held it over their shoulders, and backed into the tent to cover their father. As they did this, they looked the other way so they would not see him naked.
Genesis 9:25
Then he cursed Canaan, the son of Ham: "May Canaan be cursed! May he be the lowest of servants to his relatives."
Genesis 9:26
Then Noah said, "May the Lord , the God of Shem, be blessed, and may Canaan be his servant!
Genesis 9:28
Noah lived another 350 years after the great flood.
Genesis 17:11
You must cut off the flesh of your foreskin as a sign of the covenant between me and you.
Exodus 12:13
But the blood on your doorposts will serve as a sign, marking the houses where you are staying. When I see the blood, I will pass over you. This plague of death will not touch you when I strike the land of Egypt.
Exodus 13:16
This ceremony will be like a mark branded on your hand or your forehead. It is a reminder that the power of the Lord 's mighty hand brought us out of Egypt."
Joshua 2:12
"Now swear to me by the Lord that you will be kind to me and my family since I have helped you. Give me some guarantee that

Gill's Notes on the Bible

If thou be wise, thou shalt be wise for thyself,.... He is wise that harkens to Wisdom's advice, that obeys her call, turns in to her house, and becomes her guest; and such an one is wise for himself, it is for his own good, profit, and advantage; for the good of his soul, for his present peace and comfort, and for his future bliss and happiness. It is not for her own sake that Wisdom presses her exhortations, and is so urgent on men to take her counsel and advice; it is for their own good; their wisdom is not profitable to her, but to themselves; they, and they only, reap the advantage and usefulness of it; see Job 22:2. The Syriac and Arabic versions add, "and unto thy friends"; and the Septuagint version is, "if thou becomest wise to thyself, thou wilt be wise to neighbours"; they will receive some profit by it;

but [if] thou scornest, thou alone shall bear [it]; the evil, as the Vulgate Latin; the sin of scorning, and the punishment due unto it; it will bring no real hurt to Wisdom, or Christ, nor to his ministers, nor to his Gospel and ordinances, scoffed at; all the hurt will redound to the scoffer himself; and he alone shall bear it, and feel the smart of it, and all the dreadful consequences following upon it. The Septuagint version here adds the following clause,

"he that trusteth in lies, he feedeth on winds; the same pursues birds flying; for he forsakes the ways of his own vineyard; he wanders from the paths of his own husbandry; he passes through a desert without water, and a land destined to thirst, and he gathers unfruitfulness with his hands;''

and which are retained in the Syriac and Arabic version, but are not in the Hebrew text.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The great law of personal retribution (compare Matthew 7:2). The Septuagint makes a curious addition to this verse, “My son, if thou wilt be wise for thyself, thou shalt be wise also for thy neighbors; but if thou turn out evil, thou alone shalt bear evil. He who resteth on lies shall guide the winds, and the same shall hunt after winged birds, for he hath left the ways of his own vineyard, and has gone astray with the wheels of his own husbandry. He goeth through a wilderness without water, and over a land set in thirsty places, and with his hands he gathereth barrenness.”

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 9:12. If thou be wise — It is thy own interest to be religious. Though thy example may be very useful to thy neighbours and friends, yet the chief benefit is to thyself. But if thou scorn - refuse to receive - the doctrines of wisdom, and die in thy sins, thou alone shalt suffer the vengeance of an offended God.


 
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