| The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. | The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; fools are those who despise wisdom and instruction. |
| Blessed is the one whom God corrects; so do not despise the discipline of the Almighty. | Blessed is the man whom God reproves. Therefore, do not reject the discipline of the Almighty. |
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| My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise. | My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a contrite and humble heart, O God, you will not spurn. |
| No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. | No one can serve two masters. For you will either hate the one and love the other or be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money. |
| My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline, and do not resent his rebuke, because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in. | My son, do not ignore the Lord’s discipline or refuse to accept his rebuke. For the Lord disciplines those whom he loves, just as a father chastises a beloved son. |
| Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity. | Let no one regard you with contempt because of your youth, but serve as an example to the believers in your speech and conduct, in your love, your faith, and your purity. |
| The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. | The one who eats everything must not look contemptuously on the one who does not, and the one who abstains must not pass judgment on the one who eats, for God has welcomed both. |
| He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. | He was despised and shunned by others, a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering. We loathed him and regarded him as of no account, as one from whom men avert their gaze. |
| A fool spurns a parent’s discipline, but whoever heeds correction shows prudence. | A fool spurns his father’s correction, but whoever heeds admonition is prudent. |
| God chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him. | God chose those in the world who were lowly and despised, those who count for nothing, to reduce to nothing those who were regarded as worthy, so that no one could boast in the presence of God. |
| Whoever keeps commandments keeps their life, but whoever shows contempt for their ways will die. | Whoever observes the commandments will live, but the one who scorns them will die. |
