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Wednesday, September 10th, 2025
the Week of Proper 18 / Ordinary 23
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Read the Bible

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible

Proverbs 22:17

Incline thine ear and hear the words of wise men, then, thy heart, wilt thou apply to my teaching;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Instruction;   Wisdom;   The Topic Concordance - Hearing;   Knowledge;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Heart;   Mind/reason;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Israel, History of;   Proverbs, Book of;   Wisdom and Wise Men;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Proverb;   Proverbs, Book of;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Prov'erbs, Book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Apply;   Proverbs, Book of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Pedagogics;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Listen closely, pay attention to the words of the wise,and apply your mind to my knowledge.
Hebrew Names Version
Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.
King James Version
Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
English Standard Version
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge,
New American Standard Bible
Extend your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;
New Century Version
Listen carefully to what wise people say; pay attention to what I am teaching you.
Amplified Bible
Listen carefully and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;
World English Bible
Turn your ear, and listen to the words of the wise. Apply your heart to my teaching.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Incline thine eare, and heare the wordes of the wise, and apply thine heart vnto my knowledge.
Legacy Standard Bible
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise,And set your heart on my knowledge;
Berean Standard Bible
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise-apply your mind to my knowledge-
Contemporary English Version
Here are some sayings of people with wisdom, so listen carefully as I teach.
Complete Jewish Bible
Pay attention, and listen to the words of the wise; apply your heart to my knowledge;
Darby Translation
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
Easy-to-Read Version
Listen carefully to these words from the wise. Pay attention to what I have learned.
George Lamsa Translation
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my knowledge.
Good News Translation
Listen, and I will teach you what the wise have said. Study their teachings,
Lexham English Bible
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise; you shall apply your heart to my teaching.
Literal Translation
Stretch your ear and hear the words of the wise, and set your heart to my knowledge,
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
My sonne, bowe downe thine eare, and herken vnto the wordes of wy?dome, applye yi mynde vnto my doctryne:
American Standard Version
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, And apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
Bible in Basic English
Let your ear be bent down for hearing my words, and let your heart give thought to knowledge.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart unto my knowledge.
King James Version (1611)
Bow downe thine eare, and heare the words of the wise, and apply thine heart vnto my knowledge.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Bowe downe thyne eare, and heare the wordes of the wise: applie thy mind vnto my doctrine:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Incline thine ear to the words of wise men: hear also my word, and apply thine heart,
English Revised Version
Incline thine ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thine heart unto my knowledge.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
My sone, bowe doun thin eere, and here thou the wordis of wise men; but sette thou the herte to my techyng.
Update Bible Version
Words of the Wise. Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge.
Webster's Bible Translation
Bow down thy ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply thy heart to my knowledge.
New English Translation
Incline your ear and listen to the words of the wise, and apply your heart to my instruction.
New King James Version
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your heart to my knowledge;
New Living Translation
Listen to the words of the wise; apply your heart to my instruction.
New Life Bible
Turn your ear and hear the words of the wise, and open your mind to what they teach.
New Revised Standard
The words of the wise: Incline your ear and hear my words, and apply your mind to my teaching;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Incline thy ear, and hear the words of the wise: and apply thy heart to my doctrine:
Revised Standard Version
Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise, and apply your mind to my knowledge;
Young's Literal Translation
Incline thine ear, and hear words of the wise, And thy heart set to my knowledge,
THE MESSAGE
Exploit the poor or glad-hand the rich—whichever, you'll end up the poorer for it. Listen carefully to my wisdom; take to heart what I can teach you. You'll treasure its sweetness deep within; you'll give it bold expression in your speech. To make sure your foundation is trust in God , I'm laying it all out right now just for you. I'm giving you thirty sterling principles— tested guidelines to live by. Believe me—these are truths that work, and will keep you accountable to those who sent you.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Incline your ear and hear the words of the wise, And apply your mind to my knowledge;

Contextual Overview

17 Incline thine ear and hear the words of wise men, then, thy heart, wilt thou apply to my teaching; 18 For sweet shall they be, when thou shalt keep them in thine inmost mind, they shall fit well together, upon thy lips. 19 That in Yahweh may be thy trust, I have made them known to thee to-day, even to thee. 20 Have I not written for thee noble things, with counsels and knowledge: 21 To cause thee to know the meaning of faithful sayings, that thou mayest give back faithful sayings to them who ask thee.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Bow: Proverbs 2:2-5, Proverbs 5:1, Proverbs 5:2

and hear: Proverbs 1:3, Proverbs 3:1, Proverbs 4:4-8, Proverbs 8:33, Proverbs 8:34, Isaiah 55:3, Matthew 17:5

apply: Proverbs 23:12, Psalms 90:12, Ecclesiastes 7:25, Ecclesiastes 8:9, Ecclesiastes 8:16

Reciprocal: Exodus 7:23 - neither Psalms 31:2 - Bow Psalms 49:3 - mouth Proverbs 4:1 - attend Proverbs 5:7 - Hear Proverbs 10:17 - the way Proverbs 16:23 - heart Ecclesiastes 10:12 - words Ecclesiastes 12:10 - written Matthew 13:52 - which Luke 6:45 - good man Acts 18:26 - expounded Colossians 4:6 - your

Cross-References

Genesis 12:2
That I may make thee into a great nation, And bless thee and make great thy name, And become thou a blessing;
Genesis 13:16
and I will make thy seed as the dust of the earth, - so that if a man can number the dust of the earth, thy seed also, may be numbered.
Genesis 15:5
And he brought him forth abroad and said - Look steadfastly. I pray thee towards the heavens, and number the stars, if thou be able to number, them, And he said to him, Thus, shall be thy seed.
Genesis 17:6
And I will make thee fruitful, exceedingly, and grant thee to be nations, - Yea kings, out of thee, shall come forth;
Genesis 22:1
And it cared to pass after these things, that God, did prove Abraham, - and he said unto him, Abraham! And he said Behold me!
Genesis 22:2
And he said - Take, I pray thee, thy son, thine only one, whom thou lovest, even, Isaac, and get thee into the land of Moriah and cause him to ascend there as an ascending-sacrifice, on one of the mountains which I shall name unto thee.
Genesis 22:8
And Abraham said, God, will provide for himself the lamb for an ascending-sacrifice, my son! So they went on their way, both of them, together.
Genesis 22:9
Then came they into the place which God had named to him, and Abraham built there the altar, and aid in order the pieces of wood, and bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar, above the pieces of wood.
Genesis 22:10
And Abraham put forth his hand, and took the knife, - to slay his son.
Genesis 22:13
And Abraham lifted up his eyes and looked, and lo! a ram, behind, caught in a thicket by his horns, and Abraham went, and took the ram, and caused him to ascend as an ascending-sacrifice instead of his son.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Bow down thine ear, and hear the words of the wise,.... Here begins a new part or division of this book. According to some, the "third"; the "first" ending with Proverbs 9:18, the "second" at

Proverbs 22:16, and a "third", beginning here, and ending with

Proverbs 24:34. It is certain that what follows from hence to the end of that is written in another style, by way of exhortation, caution; and instruction, and is directed to particular persons: as here an exhortation is made to Solomon's son, or to those that attended his instruction; or rather to the children of Wisdom, that is, Christ; to listen attentively to "the words of the wise"; of Solomon, and other wise men before him, or contemporary with him; or rather of Wisdom and her maidens, Christ, and the wise men sent by him; who are made wise to salvation, and furnished for every good work by him, from whom the words of the wise come; and who speak the wisdom of God in a mystery; and whose doctrines are to be heard and received, not as the word of men, but as the word of God;

and apply thine heart unto my knowledge; the knowledge of divine and spiritual things Christ instructs in, and the knowledge of himself; which is preferable to all other knowledge, and to thousands of gold and silver; and in comparison of which all things are but loss and dung; and therefore should be applied unto with intenseness of mind, and cordially received.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

This is the commencement of a new and entirely distinct section, opening, after the fashion of Proverbs 3:1, Proverbs 3:21; Proverbs 4:1; Proverbs 7:1; with a general exhortation Proverbs 22:17-21 and passing on to special precepts. The “words of the wise” may be a title to the section: compare Proverbs 24:23. The general characteristics of this section appear to be

(1) a less close attention to the laws of parallelism, and

(2) a tendency to longer and more complicated sentences. Compare the Introduction to Proverbs.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 22:17. Bow down thine ear — From this to the end of Proverbs 22:21 are contained, not proverbs, but directions how to profit by that which wisdom has already delivered; the nature of the instruction, and the end for which it was given.

I shall give a paraphrase of this very important passage: -

I. Solomon addresses his pupils on the use of his past teachings. See on Proverbs 22:6.

1. The wise man speaks; and all his words, not merely his sentiments, are to be carefully heard.

2. He speaks knowledge - gives doctrines true in themselves, and confirmed by observation and experience.

3. These are to be heard with humility and deep attention: "Bow down thine ear."

4. They must not only be heard, but meditated and pondered: "Apply thine heart to my knowledge."


 
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