What Does the Bible Say About Prudence?

“And Jacob sent messengers before him to Esau his brother unto the land of Seir, the country of Edom. country: Heb. field”

“And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye speak unto my lord Esau; Thy servant Jacob saith thus, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed there until now:”

“And I have oxen, and asses, flocks, and menservants, and womenservants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find grace in thy sight.”

“And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and also he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.”

“Then Jacob was greatly afraid and distressed: and he divided the people that was with him, and the flocks, and herds, and the camels, into two bands;”

“And said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the other company which is left shall escape.”

“And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, the LORD which saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will deal well with thee:”

“I am not worthy of the least of all the mercies, and of all the truth, which thou hast shewed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two bands. I am not: Heb. I am less than all”

“Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he will come and smite me, and the mother with the children. with: Heb. upon”

“And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.”

“And he lodged there that same night; and took of that which came to his hand a present for Esau his brother;”

“Two hundred she goats, and twenty he goats, two hundred ewes, and twenty rams,”

“Thirty milch camels with their colts, forty kine, and ten bulls, twenty she asses, and ten foals.”

“And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by themselves; and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.”

“And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?”

“Then thou shalt say, They be thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, also he is behind us.”

“And so commanded he the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him.”

“And say ye moreover, Behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept of me. of me: Heb. my face”

“So went the present over before him: and himself lodged that night in the company.”

“And he rose up that night, and took his two wives, and his two womenservants, and his eleven sons, and passed over the ford Jabbok.”

“And he took them, and sent them over the brook, and sent over that he had. sent them: Heb. caused to pass”

“And Jacob heard that he had defiled Dinah his daughter: now his sons were with his cattle in the field: and Jacob held his peace until they were come.”

“And Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, Ye have troubled me to make me to stink among the inhabitants of the land, among the Canaanites and the Perizzites: and I being few in number, they shall gather themselves together against me, and slay me; and I shall be destroyed, I and my house.”

“Now therefore let Pharaoh look out a man discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt.”

“And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, Forasmuch as God hath shewed thee all this, there is none so discreet and wise as thou art:”

“And Moses' father in law said unto him, The thing that thou doest is not good.”

“Hearken now unto my voice, I will give thee counsel, and God shall be with thee: Be thou for the people to God-ward , that thou mayest bring the causes unto God:”

“And thou shalt teach them ordinances and laws, and shalt shew them the way wherein they must walk, and the work that they must do.”

“Moreover thou shalt provide out of all the people able men, such as fear God, men of truth, hating covetousness; and place such over them, to be rulers of thousands, and rulers of hundreds, rulers of fifties, and rulers of tens:”

“And let them judge the people at all seasons: and it shall be, that every great matter they shall bring unto thee, but every small matter they shall judge: so shall it be easier for thyself, and they shall bear the burden with thee.”

“If thou shalt do this thing, and God command thee so, then thou shalt be able to endure, and all this people shall also go to their place in peace.”

“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

“And when they came unto the borders of Jordan, that are in the land of Canaan, the children of Reuben and the children of Gad and the half tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by Jordan, a great altar to see to.”

“And the men of Ephraim said unto him, Why hast thou served us thus, that thou calledst us not, when thou wentest to fight with the Midianites? And they did chide with him sharply. Why: Heb. What thing is this thou hast done unto us sharply: Heb. strongly”

“And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?”

“God hath delivered into your hands the princes of Midian, Oreb and Zeeb: and what was I able to do in comparison of you? Then their anger was abated toward him, when he had said that. anger: Heb. spirit”

“Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him. matters: or, speech”

“And when Abigail saw David, she hasted, and lighted off the ass, and fell before David on her face, and bowed herself to the ground,”

“And fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be: and let thine handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine audience, and hear the words of thine handmaid. audience: Heb. ears”

“Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this man of Belial, even Nabal: for as his name is, so is he; Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thine handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send. regard: Heb. lay it to his heart Nabal: that is, Fool”

“Now therefore, my lord, as the LORD liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing the LORD hath withholden thee from coming to shed blood, and from avenging thyself with thine own hand, now let thine enemies, and they that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal. avenging: Heb. saving thyself”

“And now this blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men that follow my lord. blessing: or, present follow: Heb. walk at the feet of, etc”

“I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid: for the LORD will certainly make my lord a sure house; because my lord fighteth the battles of the LORD, and evil hath not been found in thee all thy days.”

“Yet a man is risen to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul: but the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of life with the LORD thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as out of the middle of a sling. as out: Heb. in the midst of the bought of a sling”

“And it shall come to pass, when the LORD shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee ruler over Israel;”

“That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, either that thou hast shed blood causeless, or that my lord hath avenged himself: but when the LORD shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thine handmaid. no grief: Heb. no staggering, or, stumbling”

“And it came to pass, that when David was come to the top of the mount, where he worshipped God, behold, Hushai the Archite came to meet him with his coat rent, and earth upon his head:”

“Unto whom David said, If thou passest on with me, then thou shalt be a burden unto me:”

“But if thou return to the city, and say unto Absalom, I will be thy servant, O king; as I have been thy father's servant hitherto, so will I now also be thy servant: then mayest thou for me defeat the counsel of Ahithophel.”

“And when Hushai was come to Absalom, Absalom spake unto him, saying, Ahithophel hath spoken after this manner: shall we do after his saying? if not; speak thou. his saying: Heb. his word”

“And Hushai said unto Absalom, The counsel that Ahithophel hath given is not good at this time. given: Heb. counselled”

“For, said Hushai, thou knowest thy father and his men, that they be mighty men, and they be chafed in their minds, as a bear robbed of her whelps in the field: and thy father is a man of war, and will not lodge with the people. chafed: Heb. bitter of soul”

“Behold, he is hid now in some pit, or in some other place: and it will come to pass, when some of them be overthrown at the first, that whosoever heareth it will say, There is a slaughter among the people that follow Absalom. overthrown: Heb. fallen”

“And he also that is valiant , whose heart is as the heart of a lion, shall utterly melt: for all Israel knoweth that thy father is a mighty man, and they which be with him are valiant men.”

“Therefore I counsel that all Israel be generally gathered unto thee, from Dan even to Beersheba, as the sand that is by the sea for multitude; and that thou go to battle in thine own person. that thou: Heb. that thy face, or, presence go, etc”

“So shall we come upon him in some place where he shall be found, and we will light upon him as the dew falleth on the ground: and of him and of all the men that are with him there shall not be left so much as one.”

“Moreover, if he be gotten into a city, then shall all Israel bring ropes to that city, and we will draw it into the river, until there be not one small stone found there.”

“And Absalom and all the men of Israel said, The counsel of Hushai the Archite is better than the counsel of Ahithophel. For the LORD had appointed to defeat the good counsel of Ahithophel, to the intent that the LORD might bring evil upon Absalom. appointed: Heb. commanded”

“And they spake unto him, saying, If thou wilt be a servant unto this people this day, and wilt serve them, and answer them, and speak good words to them, then they will be thy servants for ever.”

“Huram said moreover, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, that made heaven and earth, who hath given to David the king a wise son, endued with prudence and understanding, that might build an house for the LORD, and an house for his kingdom. endued: Heb. knowing prudence and understanding”

“And I arose in the night, I and some few men with me; neither told I any man what my God had put in my heart to do at Jerusalem: neither was there any beast with me, save the beast that I rode upon.”

“And I went out by night by the gate of the valley, even before the dragon well , and to the dung port, and viewed the walls of Jerusalem, which were broken down, and the gates thereof were consumed with fire.”

“Then I went on to the gate of the fountain, and to the king's pool: but there was no place for the beast that was under me to pass.”

“Then went I up in the night by the brook, and viewed the wall, and turned back, and entered by the gate of the valley, and so returned.”

“And the rulers knew not whither I went, or what I did; neither had I as yet told it to the Jews, nor to the priests, nor to the nobles, nor to the rulers, nor to the rest that did the work.”

“Therefore set I in the lower places behind the wall, and on the higher places , I even set the people after their families with their swords, their spears, and their bows. in the: Heb. from the lower parts of the place, etc”

“And I looked, and rose up, and said unto the nobles, and to the rulers, and to the rest of the people, Be not ye afraid of them: remember the Lord, which is great and terrible, and fight for your brethren, your sons, and your daughters, your wives, and your houses.”

“And it came to pass, when our enemies heard that it was known unto us, and God had brought their counsel to nought, that we returned all of us to the wall, every one unto his work.”

“And it came to pass from that time forth, that the half of my servants wrought in the work, and the other half of them held both the spears, the shields, and the bows, and the habergeons; and the rulers were behind all the house of Judah.”

“They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens, with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.”

“For the builders, every one had his sword girded by his side, and so builded. And he that sounded the trumpet was by me. by his side: Heb. on his loins”

“For the ear trieth words, as the mouth tasteth meat. mouth: Heb. palate”

“Let us choose to us judgment: let us know among ourselves what is good.”

“To the chief Musician, even to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. I said, I will take heed to my ways, that I sin not with my tongue: I will keep my mouth with a bridle, while the wicked is before me. my mouth: Heb. a bridle, or, muzzle for my mouth”

“A good man sheweth favour, and lendeth: he will guide his affairs with discretion. discretion: Heb. judgment”

“The proverbs of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel;”

“Discretion shall preserve thee, understanding shall keep thee:”

“My son, let not them depart from thine eyes: keep sound wisdom and discretion:”

“My son, if thou be surety for thy friend, if thou hast stricken thy hand with a stranger,”

“Thou art snared with the words of thy mouth, thou art taken with the words of thy mouth.”

“I wisdom dwell with prudence, and find out knowledge of witty inventions. prudence: or, subtilty”

“A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter. A talebearer: Heb. He that walketh, being a talebearer”

“He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure. smart: Heb. be sore broken suretiship: Heb. those that strike hands”

“He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.”

“A man shall be commended according to his wisdom: but he that is of a perverse heart shall be despised. of a: Heb. perverse of heart”

“A fool's wrath is presently known: but a prudent man covereth shame. presently: Heb. in that day”

“A prudent man concealeth knowledge: but the heart of fools proclaimeth foolishness.”

“Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly. layeth: Heb. spreadeth”

“The wisdom of the prudent is to understand his way: but the folly of fools is deceit.”

“The simple believeth every word: but the prudent man looketh well to his going.”

“A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil: but the fool rageth, and is confident.”

“The simple inherit folly: but the prudent are crowned with knowledge.”

“The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness. poureth: Heb. belcheth, or, bubbleth”

“A fool despiseth his father's instruction: but he that regardeth reproof is prudent.”

“Without counsel purposes are disappointed: but in the multitude of counsellors they are established.”

“He that handleth a matter wisely shall find good: and whoso trusteth in the LORD, happy is he. handleth: or, understandeth a matter”

“The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.”

“A wise servant shall have rule over a son that causeth shame, and shall have part of the inheritance among the brethren.”

“A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend. understanding: Heb. heart”

“Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise: and he that shutteth his lips is esteemed a man of understanding.”