68 Bible Verses about Folly, Effects Of

The [reverent] fear of the Lord [that is, worshiping Him and regarding Him as truly awesome] is the beginning and the preeminent part of knowledge [its starting point and its essence];
But arrogant fools despise [skillful and godly] wisdom and instruction and self-discipline.

“But to man He said, ‘Behold, the reverential and worshipful fear of the Lord—that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

The [spiritually ignorant] fool has said in his heart, “There is no God.”
They are corrupt, they have committed repulsive and unspeakable deeds;
There is no one who does good.

I will hear [with expectant hope] what God the Lord will say,
For He will speak peace to His people, to His godly ones—
But let them not turn again to folly.

The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom;
A good understanding and a teachable heart are possessed by all those who do the will of the Lord;
His praise endures forever.

Wisdom shouts in the street,
She raises her voice in the markets;

She calls out at the head of the noisy streets [where large crowds gather];
At the entrance of the city gates she speaks her words:

“How long, O naive ones [you who are easily misled], will you love being simple-minded and undiscerning?
How long will scoffers [who ridicule and deride] delight in scoffing,
How long will fools [who obstinately mock truth] hate knowledge?
read more.

“If you will turn and pay attention to my rebuke,
Behold, I [Wisdom] will pour out my spirit on you;
I will make my words known to you.

“Because I called and you refused [to answer],
I stretched out my hand and no one has paid attention [to my offer];

And you treated all my counsel as nothing
And would not accept my reprimand,

I also will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when your dread and panic come,

When your dread and panic come like a storm,
And your disaster comes like a whirlwind,
When anxiety and distress come upon you [as retribution].

Whoever loves instruction and discipline loves knowledge,
But he who hates reproof and correction is stupid.

A [closed-minded] fool does not delight in understanding,
But only in revealing his personal opinions [unwittingly displaying his self-indulgence and his stupidity].

Therefore do not be foolish and thoughtless, but understand and firmly grasp what the will of the Lord is.

A senseless man [in his crude and uncultivated state] knows nothing,
Nor does a [self-righteous] fool understand this:

Then I said, “[Surely] these are only the poor (uneducated);
They are [sinfully] foolish and have no [spiritual] understanding,
For they do not know the way of the Lord
Or the ordinance of their God [and the requirements of His just and righteous law].

But the Lord said to him, “Now you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and plate [as required by tradition]; but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. You foolish ones [acting without reflection or intelligence]! Did not He who made the outside make the inside also?

For even though they knew God [as the Creator], they did not honor Him as God or give thanks [for His wondrous creation]. On the contrary, they became worthless in their thinking [godless, with pointless reasonings, and silly speculations], and their foolish heart was darkened.

You fool! Every time you plant seed you sow something that does not come to life [germinating, springing up and growing] unless it first dies.

But have nothing to do with foolish and ignorant speculations [useless disputes over unedifying, stupid controversies], since you know that they produce strife and give birth to quarrels.

But avoid foolish and ill-informed and stupid controversies and genealogies and dissensions and quarrels about the Law, for they are unprofitable and useless.

Fools, because of their rebellious way,
And because of their sins, were afflicted.

‘Now hear this, O foolish people without heart,
Who have eyes but do not see,
Who have ears but do not hear.

‘Do you not fear Me?’ says the Lord.
‘Do you not tremble [in awe] in My presence?
For I have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
An eternal decree and a perpetual barrier beyond which it cannot pass.
Though the waves [of the sea] toss and break, yet they cannot prevail [against the sand ordained to hold them back];
Though the waves and the billows roar, yet they cannot cross over [the barrier].
[Is not such a God to be feared?]

‘But this people has a stubborn heart and a rebellious will [that draws them away from Me];
They have turned away and have gone [into idolatry].
read more.

‘They do not say in their heart,
“Let us now fear and worship the Lord our God [with profound awe and reverence],
Who gives rain in its season,
Both the autumn and the spring rain,
Who keeps for us
The appointed weeks of the harvest.”

‘Your wickedness has turned these [blessings] away,
And your sins have withheld good [harvests] from you.

He who trusts confidently in his own heart is a [dull, thickheaded] fool,
But he who walks in [skillful and godly] wisdom will be rescued.

He who leans on and trusts in and is confident in his riches will fall,
But the righteous [who trust in God’s provision] will flourish like a green leaf.

The way of the [arrogant] fool [who rejects God’s wisdom] is right in his own eyes,
But a wise and prudent man is he who listens to counsel.

There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him,
But its end is the way of death.

But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your soul is required of you; and now who will own all the things you have prepared?’

O God, You know my folly;
My wrongs are not hidden from You.

A shrewd man is reluctant to display his knowledge [until the proper time],
But the heart of [over-confident] fools proclaims foolishness.

Every prudent and self-disciplined man acts with knowledge,
But a [closed-minded] fool [who refuses to learn] displays his foolishness [for all to see].

The tongue of the wise speaks knowledge that is pleasing and acceptable,
But the [babbling] mouth of fools spouts folly.

But they will not get very far, for their meaningless nonsense and ignorance will become obvious to everyone, as was that of Jannes and Jambres.

The wisdom of the sensible is to understand his way,
But the foolishness of [shortsighted] fools is deceit.

The naive or inexperienced person [is easily misled and] believes every word he hears,
But the prudent man [is discreet and astute and] considers well where he is going.

And among the naive [the inexperienced and gullible],
I saw among the youths
A young man lacking [good] sense,

Passing through the street near her corner;
And he took the path to her house

In the twilight, in the evening;
In the black and dark night.
read more.

And there a woman met him,
Dressed as a prostitute and sly and cunning of heart.

She was boisterous and rebellious;
She would not stay at home.

At times she was in the streets, at times in the market places,
Lurking and setting her ambush at every corner.

So she caught him and kissed him
And with a brazen and impudent face she said to him:

“I have peace offerings with me;
Today I have paid my vows.

“So I came out to meet you [that you might share with me the feast of my offering],
Diligently I sought your face and I have found you.

“I have spread my couch with coverings and cushions of tapestry,
With colored fine linen of Egypt.

“I have perfumed my bed
With myrrh, aloes, and cinnamon.

“Come, let us drink our fill of love until morning;
Let us console and delight ourselves with love.

“For my husband is not at home.
He has gone on a long journey;

He has taken a bag of money with him,
And he will come home on the appointed day.”

With her many persuasions she caused him to yield;
With her flattering lips she seduced him.

Suddenly he went after her, as an ox goes to the slaughter [not knowing the outcome],
Or as one in stocks going to the correction [to be given] to a fool,

Until an arrow pierced his liver [with a mortal wound];
Like a bird fluttering straight into the net,
He did not know that it would cost him his life.

The foolish woman is restless and noisy;
She is naive and easily misled and thoughtless, and knows nothing at all [of eternal value].

She sits at the doorway of her house,
On a seat by the high and conspicuous places of the city,

Calling to those who pass by,
Who are making their paths straight:
read more.

“Whoever is naive or inexperienced, let him turn in here!”
And to him who lacks understanding (common sense), she says,

“Stolen waters (pleasures) are sweet [because they are forbidden];
And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.”

But he does not know that the spirits of the dead are there,
And that her guests are [already] in the depths of Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead).

Ephraim also is like a silly dove, without heart or good sense;
They call to Egypt [for help], they go to Assyria.

O you foolish and thoughtless and superficial Galatians, who has bewitched you [that you would act like this], to whom—right before your very eyes—Jesus Christ was publicly portrayed as crucified [in the gospel message]?

A prudent and far-sighted person sees the evil [of sin] and hides himself [from it],
But the naive continue on and are punished [by suffering the consequences of sin].

But while they were going away to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut and locked.

“For the turning away of the naive will kill them,
And the careless ease of [self-righteous] fools will destroy them.

He will die for lack of instruction (discipline),
And in the greatness of his foolishness he will go astray and be lost.

The wise in heart [are willing to learn so they] will accept and obey commands (instruction),
But the babbling fool [who is arrogant and thinks himself wise] will come to ruin.

But those who [are not financially ethical and] crave to get rich [with a compulsive, greedy longing for wealth] fall into temptation and a trap and into many foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction [leading to personal misery].

The wise will inherit honor and glory,
But dishonor and shame is conferred on fools.

He who answers before he hears [the facts]—
It is folly and shame to him.

All who make carved idols are nothing. Their precious objects are worthless [to them], and their own witnesses (worshipers) fail to see or know, so that they will be put to shame.

“The wise men are shamed,
They are dismayed and caught.
Behold, they have [manipulated and] rejected the [truth in the] word of the Lord,
And what kind of wisdom and insight do they have?

A foolish son is a grief and anguish to his father
And bitterness to her who gave birth to him.

The proverbs of Solomon:

A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish [stubborn] son [who refuses to learn] is a grief to his mother.

A wise son makes a father glad,
But a foolish man despises his mother.

He who becomes the parent of a fool [who is spiritually blind] does so to his sorrow,
And the father of a fool [who is spiritually blind] has no joy.

Understanding (spiritual insight) is a [refreshing and boundless] wellspring of life to those who have it,
But to give instruction and correction to fools is foolishness.

My wounds are loathsome and foul
Because of my foolishness.

A fool’s lips bring contention and strife,
And his mouth invites a beating.

A whip for the horse, a bridle for the donkey,
And a rod for the backs of fools [who refuse to learn].

A highway will be there, and a roadway;
And it will be called the Holy Way.
The unclean will not travel on it,
But it will be for those who walk on the way [the redeemed];
And fools will not wander on it.

But while they were going away to buy oil, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut and locked. Later the others also came, and said, ‘Lord, Lord, open [the door] for us.’ But He replied, ‘I assure you and most solemnly say to you, I do not know you [we have no relationship].’

Even though you pound a [hardened, arrogant] fool [who rejects wisdom] in a mortar with a pestle like grain,
Yet his foolishness will not leave him.

The mind of the intelligent and discerning seeks knowledge and eagerly inquires after it,
But the mouth of the [stubborn] fool feeds on foolishness.

Like a dog that returns to his vomit
Is a fool who repeats his foolishness.

Then Aaron said to Moses, “Oh, my lord, I plead with you, do not account this sin to us, in which we have acted foolishly and in which we have sinned.

Now therefore, take for yourselves seven bulls and seven rams, and go to My servant Job, and offer up a burnt offering for yourselves, and My servant Job will pray for you. For I will accept him [and his prayer] so that I may not deal with you according to your folly, because you have not spoken of Me the thing that is right, as My servant Job has.”

For we too once were foolish, disobedient, deceived, enslaved to various sinful desires and pleasures, spending and wasting our life in malice and envy, hateful, hating one another. But when the goodness and kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared [in human form as the Man, Jesus Christ], He saved us, not because of any works of righteousness that we have done, but because of His own compassion and mercy, by the cleansing of the new birth (spiritual transformation, regeneration) and renewing by the Holy Spirit,

Strike a scoffer [for refusing to learn], and the naive may [be warned and] become prudent;
Reprimand one who has understanding and a teachable spirit, and he will gain knowledge and insight.

When the scoffer is punished, the naive [observes the lesson and] becomes wise;
But when the wise and teachable person is instructed, he receives knowledge.

Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child;
The rod of discipline [correction administered with godly wisdom and lovingkindness] will remove it far from him.

The rod and reproof (godly instruction) give wisdom,
But a child who gets his own way brings shame to his mother.

“O you naive or inexperienced [who are easily misled], understand prudence and seek astute common sense;
And, O you [closed-minded, self-confident] fools, understand wisdom [seek the insight and self-discipline that leads to godly living].

Wisdom rests [silently] in the heart of one who has understanding,
But what is in the heart of [shortsighted] fools is made known.

“Those who err in mind will know the truth,
And those who criticize and murmur discontentedly will accept instruction.

and [that you are] a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of the [spiritually] childish, having in the Law the embodiment of knowledge and of the truth—