Proverbs 13:1

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

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

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

A wise child accepts a parent’s discipline; a young mocker refuses to listen.

Intelligent children listen to their parents; foolish children do their own thing.

A wise son is a lover of teaching, but the ears of the haters of authority are shut to sharp words.

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

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

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.