Proverbs

Chapter 19

The Man of Integrity

Proverbs 19 contrasts integrity with crooked folly and keeps returning to the consequences of haste, falsehood, anger, laziness, and refusal of discipline, while commending patient insight, teachability, kindness to the poor, and the fear of the LORD. The chapter ties wisdom closely to relational and household order, showing that moral choices shape friendships, family life, provision, and the stability of the soul.

As the nineteenth chapter of Proverbs, this passage extends Solomon's short sayings into a wide meditation on how character affects social standing, domestic peace, and ultimate flourishing. It teaches that wisdom is not merely cleverness but a reverent, disciplined way of living that values integrity over status, counsel over impulse, and covenantal kindness over self-destructive folly.

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Proverbs 19

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vv. 1-29

The Man of Integrity

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B¹etter a poor man who walks with integrity ²Even zeal is no good without knowledge, ³A man’s own folly subverts his way, ⁴Wealth attracts many friends, ⁵A false witness will not go unpunished, ⁶Many seek the favor of the prince, ⁷All the brothers of a poor man hate him — ⁸He who acquires wisdom loves himself; ⁹A false witness will not go unpunished,

¹⁰Luxury is unseemly for a fool— ¹¹A man’s insight gives him patience, ¹²A king’s rage is like the roar of a lion, ¹³A foolish son is his father’s ruin, ¹⁴Houses and wealth are inherited from fathers, ¹⁵Laziness brings on deep sleep, ¹⁶He who keeps a commandment preserves his soul, ¹⁷Kindness to the poor is a loan to the LORD,

¹⁸Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; ¹⁹A man of great anger must pay the penalty; ²⁰Listen to counsel and accept discipline, ²¹Many plans are in a man’s heart, ²²The desire of a man is loving devotion; ²³The fear of the LORD leads to life, ²⁴The slacker buries his hand in the dish;

²⁵Strike a mocker, and the simple will beware; ²⁶He who assaults his father or evicts his mother ²⁷If you cease to hear instruction, my son, ²⁸A corrupt witness mocks justice, ²⁹Judgments are prepared for mockers,

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01vv. 1-29The Man of IntegrityThe chapter gathers sayings about honest poverty, impulsive zeal, self-ruining folly, wealth and social favor, false witness, patience, royal anger, household grief, inheritance, sloth, obedience, generosity to the poor, parental discipline, listening to counsel, the LORD's enduring purpose, loyal love, and judgments for mockers. Taken together, they show that wisdom steadies the whole person: it slows anger, receives correction, honors parents, guards speech, helps the needy, and lives by God's purpose rather than by appetite or appearances.