Proverbs 25:15

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Proverbs 25:13–17 · Berean Standard Bible

13 Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest is a trustworthy messenger to those who send him; he refreshes the soul of his masters.

14 Like clouds and wind without rain is the man who boasts of gifts never given.

15 Through patience a ruler can be persuaded, and a gentle tongue can break a bone.

16 If you find honey, eat just what you need, lest you have too much and vomit it up.

17 Seldom set foot in your neighbor’s house, lest he grow weary and hate you.

Hebrew words

Data created by STEPBible.org based on work at Tyndale House Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

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Cross-references

The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge lists these related verses. Scripture text comes from the Berean Standard Bible.

Proverbs 15:1

A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.

Proverbs 16:14

The wrath of a king is a messenger of death, but a wise man will pacify it.

Genesis 32:4

He instructed them, “You are to say to my master Esau, ‘Your servant Jacob says: I have been staying with Laban and have remained there until now.

Genesis 32:5

I have oxen, donkeys, flocks, menservants, and maidservants. I have sent this message to inform my master, so that I may find favor in your sight.’”

Genesis 32:6

When the messengers returned to Jacob, they said, “We went to your brother Esau, and now he is coming to meet you—he and four hundred men with him.”

Genesis 32:7

In great fear and distress, Jacob divided his people into two camps, as well as the flocks and herds and camels.

Genesis 32:8

He thought, “If Esau comes and attacks one camp, then the other camp can escape.”

Genesis 32:9

Then Jacob declared, “O God of my father Abraham, God of my father Isaac, the LORD who told me, ‘Go back to your country and to your kindred, and I will make you prosper,’

Genesis 32:10

I am unworthy of all the kindness and faithfulness You have shown Your servant. Indeed, with only my staff I came across the Jordan, but now I have become two camps.

Genesis 32:11

Please deliver me from the hand of my brother Esau, for I am afraid that he may come and attack me and the mothers and children with me.

Genesis 32:12

But You have said, ‘I will surely make you prosper, and I will make your offspring like the sand of the sea, too numerous to count.’”

Genesis 32:13

Jacob spent the night there, and from what he had brought with him, he selected a gift for his brother Esau:

Genesis 32:14

200 female goats, 20 male goats, 200 ewes, 20 rams,

Genesis 32:15

30 milk camels with their young, 40 cows, 10 bulls, 20 female donkeys, and 10 male donkeys.

Genesis 32:16

He entrusted them to his servants in separate herds and told them, “Go on ahead of me, and keep some distance between the herds.”

Genesis 32:17

He instructed the one in the lead, “When my brother Esau meets you and asks, ‘To whom do you belong, where are you going, and whose animals are these before you?’

Genesis 32:18

then you are to say, ‘They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a gift, sent to my lord Esau. And behold, Jacob is behind us.’”

Genesis 32:19

He also instructed the second, the third, and all those following behind the herds: “When you meet Esau, you are to say the same thing to him.

Genesis 32:20

You are also to say, ‘Look, your servant Jacob is right behind us.’” For he thought, “I will appease Esau with the gift that is going before me. After that I can face him, and perhaps he will accept me.”

Genesis 32:21

So Jacob’s gifts went on before him, while he spent the night in the camp.

1 Samuel 25:14

Meanwhile, one of Nabal’s young men informed Nabal’s wife Abigail, “Look, David sent messengers from the wilderness to greet our master, but he scolded them.

1 Samuel 25:24

She fell at his feet and said, “My lord, may the blame be on me alone, but please let your servant speak to you; hear the words of your servant.

1 Samuel 25:25

My lord should pay no attention to this scoundrel Nabal, for he lives up to his name: His name means Fool, and folly accompanies him. I, your servant, did not see my lord’s young men whom you sent.

1 Samuel 25:26

Now, my lord, as surely as the LORD lives and you yourself live, the LORD has held you back from coming to bloodshed and avenging yourself with your own hand. May your enemies and those who seek harm for my lord be like Nabal.

1 Samuel 25:27

Now let this gift your servant has brought to my lord be given to the young men who follow you.

1 Samuel 25:28

Please forgive your servant’s offense, for the LORD will surely make a lasting dynasty for my lord, because he fights the LORD’s battles. May no evil be found in you as long as you live.

1 Samuel 25:29

And should someone pursue you and seek your life, then the life of my lord will be bound securely by the LORD your God in the bundle of the living. But He shall fling away the lives of your enemies like stones from a sling.

1 Samuel 25:30

When the LORD has done for my lord all the good He promised, and when He has appointed you ruler over Israel,

1 Samuel 25:31

then my lord will have no remorse or guilt of conscience over needless bloodshed and revenge. And when the LORD has dealt well with my lord, may you remember your maidservant.”

1 Samuel 25:32

Then David said to Abigail, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who sent you to meet me this day!

1 Samuel 25:33

Blessed is your discernment, and blessed are you, because today you kept me from bloodshed and from avenging myself by my own hand.

1 Samuel 25:34

Otherwise, as surely as the LORD, the God of Israel, lives, who has restrained me from harming you, if you had not come quickly to meet me, then surely no male belonging to Nabal would have been left alive by morning light.”

1 Samuel 25:35

Then David accepted from her hand what she had brought him, and he said to her, “Go home in peace. See, I have heeded your voice and granted your request.”

1 Samuel 25:36

When Abigail returned to Nabal, there he was in the house, holding a feast fit for a king, in high spirits and very drunk. So she told him nothing until morning light.

1 Samuel 25:37

In the morning when Nabal was sober, his wife told him about these events, and his heart failed within him and he became like a stone.

1 Samuel 25:38

About ten days later, the LORD struck Nabal dead.

1 Samuel 25:39

On hearing that Nabal was dead, David said, “Blessed be the LORD, who has upheld my cause against the reproach of Nabal and has restrained His servant from evil. For the LORD has brought the wickedness of Nabal down upon his own head.” Then David sent word to Abigail, asking for her in marriage.

1 Samuel 25:40

When his servants came to Abigail at Carmel, they said, “David has sent us to take you as his wife.”

1 Samuel 25:41

She arose, then bowed facedown and said, “Here is your maidservant, ready to serve and to wash the feet of my lord’s servants.”

1 Samuel 25:42

So Abigail hurried and got on a donkey, and attended by five of her maidens, she followed David’s messengers and became his wife.

1 Samuel 25:43

David had also married Ahinoam of Jezreel. So she and Abigail were both his wives.

1 Samuel 25:44

But Saul had given his daughter Michal, David’s wife, to Palti son of Laish, who was from Gallim.

Ecclesiastes 10:4

If the ruler’s temper flares against you, do not abandon your post, for calmness lays great offenses to rest.