- Proverbs 10 BSB ↗
Every language has its store of short sayings that grandparents hand out at just the right moment: pithy lines about patience, money, speech and family, easy to remember because they are compact and balanced. Proverbs 10 is where the Bible's own store opens. After nine chapters of long speeches, a fresh heading appears: the proverbs of Solomon. From here the style changes completely. Each verse is usually a self-contained pair of lines, and in these early chapters the second line mostly flips the first: the wise child brings joy, the foolish child brings grief. You can read them one at a time, like sayings on a wall, or look for the threads that run through them.
Where it sits in the story: In Act 3, Israel's story, this begins the collection most closely tied to Solomon (10:1–22:16), whose reputation for proverbs appears in 1 Kings 4:32. The long introduction has set the frame, the fear of the LORD; now the sayings apply it to ordinary life. Chapter 10 keeps returning to two threads: the contrast between righteous and wicked, and the power of words.
What this chapter is doing: To show, in short contrasting sayings, that choices about work, honesty and especially speech shape where a life goes, and that the LORD stands behind the outcomes.
- 10:1–5 — A wise child makes a father glad; a foolish one grieves a mother. Wealth gained by wickedness does not help in the end, while righteousness rescues. The LORD does not let the righteous go hungry. Lazy hands bring poverty; the one who gathers in summer and works at harvest acts wisely.
- 10:6–14 — Blessings rest on the righteous, and their memory remains a blessing, but the name of the wicked rots. Whoever walks with integrity walks securely. Hatred stirs up quarrels, but love covers over every wrong. The wise store up knowledge, while a fool's mouth invites ruin.
- 10:15–21 — Wealth can feel like a fortified city, and poverty leaves people exposed. When words are many, wrongdoing is rarely absent; whoever holds back their lips is wise. The tongue of the righteous is like choice silver, and their lips feed many, while fools die for lack of sense.
- 10:22–32 — The LORD's blessing makes rich and adds no trouble with it. Wrongdoing is a game to the fool; wisdom is a delight to the discerning. The fear of the LORD adds years, and the hope of the righteous ends in joy. The way of the LORD is a refuge for the upright; the mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom and knows what is fitting.
Key verse: Proverbs 10:12 · So what: Much of this chapter is about the mouth: how much we talk, what we repeat, whether our words nourish or wound. In an age of endless messages and forwards, the line about many words carries fresh weight. And one saying reached far: 'love covers' all wrongs is echoed in the New Testament (James 5:20; 1 Peter 4:8) as a picture of forgiveness in community.