For additional notes and resources check out Douglas’ website.
Salient points:
- Productive and counterproductive -- the wise constructs, the foolish destructs (v.1).
- Hard work leads to a profit (v.4). Here is the rendering in the Jerusalem Bible: "No oxen, no cattle-feed; stout ox, rich crop." Here the JB, a sensitive and literary translation, captures the feel of the Semitic original.
- 14:23 contains a similar thought.
- Each heart knows its own pains and joys. Be careful with feigning empathy or understanding.
- 14:12 is a doublet with 16:25.
Version: Today I read from the NIV and the JB.
Challenge:
- Value hard work -- and hard workers.
- When we feel ourselves being dilatory or procrastinating, think of the person we deeply respect and let his or her example motivate us to follow through!
- As someone put it, "Be thankful if your job is a little harder than you like. A razor can’t be sharpened on a piece of velvet." And there's the old Arab adage, "Smooth seas do not make skilled sailors."
Tomorrow: Proverbs 15 (NIV and The Message)