Proverbs 14

Proverbs 14 opens with a house built by a wise woman and torn down by a foolish one, and it keeps returning to what builds and what destroys. The fool's proud speech brings a rod to his back; the wise are protected by their lips. The empty manger is clean, but the harvest comes through the strength of the ox, a proverb that has consoled everyone who has ever cleaned up after productive work. Then the chapter goes somewhere Proverbs rarely goes, inside the heart. It knows its own bitterness, and no stranger shares its joy. Even in laughter it may ache. And in the middle sits the line that the book repeats later because it matters so much: there is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death. The chapter's closing verses are its heaviest. The fear of the LORD is a fountain of life and a refuge for one's children. A patient person has great understanding. A tranquil heart is life to the body, but envy rots the bones. Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker. Righteousness exalts a nation. Read it slowly, one saying at a time, the way it was written to be read, and let the contrasts do their work.