A wise son accepts ¹  his father’s discipline, ²  but a scoffer ³  does not listen to rebuke.

biblegateway Pro 13:1

A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a mocker doesn't listen to rebuke.

A wise son listens to his father’s discipline, but a mocker does not listen to reprimands.

biblegateway Pro 13:1

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, but a mocker does not listen to rebuke.

A wise son hears his father's instruction, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

bibleoremus Pro 13:1

A wise child loves discipline, but a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

A wise son heeds a father's instruction; the arrogant will not listen to rebuke.

biblegateway Pro 13:1

A wise son heeds his father’s instruction, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.

A wise son [heareth] his father’s instruction: but a scorner heareth not rebuke.

biblegateway Pro 13:1

A wise son accepts ¹  his father’s discipline, ²  but a scoffer ³  does not listen to rebuke.

¹ tn The term “accepts” does not appear in the Hebrew but is supplied in the translation for the sake of smoothness and clarity.

² tc G. R. Driver suggested reading this word as מְיֻסַּר (mÿyussar, “allows himself to be disciplined”); see his “Hebrew Notes on Prophets and Proverbs,” JTS 41 (1940): 174. But this is not necessary at all; the MT makes good sense as it stands. Similarly, the LXX has “a wise son listens to his father.”

² tn Heb “discipline of a father.”

³ sn The “scoffer” is the worst kind of fool. He has no respect for authority, reviles worship of God, and is unteachable because he thinks he knows it all. The change to a stronger word in the second colon – “rebuke” (גָּעַר, ga’ar) – shows that he does not respond to instruction on any level. Cf. NLT “a young mocker,” taking this to refer to the opposite of the “wise son” in the first colon.