'Wise' in the Bible

For oppression makes a wise man mad,And a bribe corrupts the heart.

Do not be excessively righteous and do not be overly wise. Why should you ruin yourself?

Wisdom strengthens a wise man more than ten rulers who are in a city.

I tested all this with wisdom, and I said, “I will be wise,” but it was far from me.

Who is like the wise man and who knows the interpretation of a matter? A man’s wisdom illumines him and causes his stern face to beam.

He who keeps a royal command experiences no trouble, for a wise heart knows the proper time and procedure.

and I saw every work of God, I concluded that man cannot discover the work which has been done under the sun. Even though man should seek laboriously, he will not discover; and though the wise man should say, “I know,” he cannot discover.

For I have taken all this to my heart and explain it that righteous men, wise men, and their deeds are in the hand of God. Man does not know whether it will be love or hatred; anything awaits him.

I again saw under the sun that the race is not to the swift and the battle is not to the warriors, and neither is bread to the wise nor wealth to the discerning nor favor to men of ability; for time and chance overtake them all.

But there was found in it a poor wise man and he delivered the city by his wisdom. Yet no one remembered that poor man.

The words of the wise heard in quietness are better than the shouting of a ruler among fools.

A wise man’s heart directs him toward the right, but the foolish man’s heart directs him toward the left.

Words from the mouth of a wise man are gracious, while the lips of a fool consume him;

In addition to being a wise man, the Preacher also taught the people knowledge; and he pondered, searched out and arranged many proverbs.

The words of wise men are like goads, and masters of these collections are like well-driven nails; they are given by one Shepherd.

Woe to those who are wise in their own eyesAnd clever in their own sight!

The princes of Zoan are mere fools;The advice of Pharaoh’s wisest advisers has become stupid.How can you men say to Pharaoh,“I am a son of the wise, a son of ancient kings”?

Well then, where are your wise men?Please let them tell you,And let them understand what the Lord of hostsHas purposed against Egypt.

Therefore behold, I will once again deal marvelously with this people, wondrously marvelous;And the wisdom of their wise men will perish,And the discernment of their discerning men will be concealed.”

Yet He also is wise and will bring disasterAnd does not retract His words,But will arise against the house of evildoersAnd against the help of the workers of iniquity.

Causing the omens of boasters to fail,Making fools out of diviners,Causing wise men to draw backAnd turning their knowledge into foolishness,

“How can you say, ‘We are wise,And the law of the Lord is with us’?But behold, the lying pen of the scribesHas made it into a lie.

“The wise men are put to shame,They are dismayed and caught;Behold, they have rejected the word of the Lord,And what kind of wisdom do they have?

Who is the wise man that may understand this? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken, that he may declare it? Why is the land ruined, laid waste like a desert, so that no one passes through?

Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches;

Who would not fear You, O King of the nations?Indeed it is Your due!For among all the wise men of the nationsAnd in all their kingdoms,There is none like You.

“A sword against the Chaldeans,” declares the Lord,“And against the inhabitants of BabylonAnd against her officials and her wise men!

“I will make her princes and her wise men drunk,Her governors, her prefects and her mighty men,That they may sleep a perpetual sleep and not wake up,”Declares the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts.

“The inhabitants of Sidon and Arvad were your rowers;Your wise men, O Tyre, were aboard; they were your pilots.

“The elders of Gebal and her wise men were with you repairing your seams;All the ships of the sea and their sailors were with you in order to deal in your merchandise.

Because of this the king became indignant and very furious and gave orders to destroy all the wise men of Babylon.

So the decree went forth that the wise men should be slain; and they looked for Daniel and his friends to kill them.

Then Daniel replied with discretion and discernment to Arioch, the captain of the king’s bodyguard, who had gone forth to slay the wise men of Babylon;

so that they might request compassion from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon.

“It is He who changes the times and the epochs;He removes kings and establishes kings;He gives wisdom to wise menAnd knowledge to men of understanding.

Therefore, Daniel went in to Arioch, whom the king had appointed to destroy the wise men of Babylon; he went and spoke to him as follows: “Do not destroy the wise men of Babylon! Take me into the king’s presence, and I will declare the interpretation to the king.”

Daniel answered before the king and said, “As for the mystery about which the king has inquired, neither wise men, conjurers, magicians nor diviners are able to declare it to the king.

Then the king promoted Daniel and gave him many great gifts, and he made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon.

So I gave orders to bring into my presence all the wise men of Babylon, that they might make known to me the interpretation of the dream.

This is the dream which I, King Nebuchadnezzar, have seen. Now you, Belteshazzar, tell me its interpretation, inasmuch as none of the wise men of my kingdom is able to make known to me the interpretation; but you are able, for a spirit of the holy gods is in you.’

The king called aloud to bring in the conjurers, the Chaldeans and the diviners. The king spoke and said to the wise men of Babylon, “Any man who can read this inscription and explain its interpretation to me shall be clothed with purple and have a necklace of gold around his neck, and have authority as third ruler in the kingdom.”

Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the inscription or make known its interpretation to the king.

Just now the wise men and the conjurers were brought in before me that they might read this inscription and make its interpretation known to me, but they could not declare the interpretation of the message.

The pains of childbirth come upon him;He is not a wise son,For it is not the time that he should delay at the opening of the womb.

Whoever is wise, let him understand these things;Whoever is discerning, let him know them.For the ways of the Lord are right,And the righteous will walk in them,But transgressors will stumble in them.

“Will I not on that day,” declares the Lord,“Destroy wise men from EdomAnd understanding from the mountain of Esau?

And Hamath also, which borders on it;Tyre and Sidon, though they are very wise.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.

At that time Jesus said, “I praise You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants.

“Therefore, behold, I am sending you prophets and wise men and scribes; some of them you will kill and crucify, and some of them you will scourge in your synagogues, and persecute from city to city,

At that very time He rejoiced greatly in the Holy Spirit, and said, “I praise You, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and intelligent and have revealed them to infants. Yes, Father, for this way was well-pleasing in Your sight.

I am under obligation both to Greeks and to barbarians, both to the wise and to the foolish.

Professing to be wise, they became fools,

For I do not want you, brethren, to be uninformed of this mystery—so that you will not be wise in your own estimation—that a partial hardening has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in;

Be of the same mind toward one another; do not be haughty in mind, but associate with the lowly. Do not be wise in your own estimation.

For the report of your obedience has reached to all; therefore I am rejoicing over you, but I want you to be wise in what is good and innocent in what is evil.

to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, be the glory forever. Amen.

For it is written,“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise,And the cleverness of the clever I will set aside.”

Where is the wise man? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble;

but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong,

According to the grace of God which was given to me, like a wise master builder I laid a foundation, and another is building on it. But each man must be careful how he builds on it.

Let no man deceive himself. If any man among you thinks that he is wise in this age, he must become foolish, so that he may become wise.

For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God. For it is written, “He is the one who catches the wise in their craftiness”;

and again, “The Lord knows the reasonings of the wise, that they are useless.”

I say this to your shame. Is it so, that there is not among you one wise man who will be able to decide between his brethren,

I speak as to wise men; you judge what I say.

For you, being so wise, tolerate the foolish gladly.

Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise,

Who among you is wise and understanding? Let him show by his good behavior his deeds in the gentleness of wisdom.