Parallel Verses

Amplified


“But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise
[Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.

New American Standard Bible

An idiot will become intelligent
When the foal of a wild donkey is born a man.

King James Version

For vain man would be wise, though man be born like a wild ass's colt.

Holman Bible

But a stupid man will gain understanding
as soon as a wild donkey is born a man!

International Standard Version

An empty-headed person will gain understanding when a wild donkey is born a human being!"

A Conservative Version

But vain man is void of understanding. Yea, man is born [as] a wild donkey's colt.

American Standard Version

But vain man is void of understanding, Yea, man is born as a wild ass's colt.

Bible in Basic English

And so a hollow-minded man will get wisdom, when a young ass of the field gets teaching.

Darby Translation

Yet a senseless man will make bold, though man be born like the foal of a wild ass.

Julia Smith Translation

And man being empty will be without heart: and man will be born a wild ass's colt

King James 2000

For a vain man will be wise, when a man is born a wild donkey's colt.

Lexham Expanded Bible

But {an empty-headed person} will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born [as] a human being.

Modern King James verseion

For foolish man would be wise, and man is born a wild ass's colt.

Modern Spelling Tyndale-Coverdale

A vain body exalteth himself, and man, newborn, is like a wild ass's colt.

NET Bible

But an empty man will become wise, when a wild donkey's colt is born a human being.

New Heart English Bible

An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey's colt.

The Emphasized Bible

But, an empty person, will get sense, when, a wild ass's colt, is born a man!

Webster

For vain man would be wise, though man is born like a wild ass's colt.

World English Bible

An empty-headed man becomes wise when a man is born as a wild donkey's colt.

Youngs Literal Translation

And empty man is bold, And the colt of a wild ass man is born.

Interlinear

English(KJV)
Strong's
Root Form
Definition
Usage
נבב 
Nabab 
Usage: 4

man
אישׁ 
'iysh 
Usage: 692

would be wise
לבב 
Labab 
Usage: 5

אדם 
'adam 
Usage: 541

be born
ילד 
Yalad 
Usage: 497

פּרה פּרא 
Pere' 
Usage: 10

References

Easton

Ass

Fausets

Hastings

Morish

Ass

Watsons

Ass

Context Readings

God Can Do As He Pleases

11
“For He recognizes and knows false and worthless men,
And He sees wickedness, will He not consider it?
12 
“But a hollow (empty-headed) man will become intelligent and wise
[Only] when the colt of a wild donkey is born as a man.
13
“If you direct your heart [on the right path]
And stretch out your hands to Him,



Cross References

Job 39:5-8


“Who sent out the wild donkey free [from dependence on man]?
And who has loosed the bonds of the wild donkey [to survive in the wild],

Psalm 73:22


Then I was senseless and ignorant;
I was like a beast before You.

Ecclesiastes 3:18

I said to myself regarding the sons of men, “God is surely testing them in order for them to see that [by themselves, without God] they are [only] animals.”

Job 5:13


“He catches the [so-called] wise in their own shrewdness,
And the advice of the devious is quickly thwarted.

Job 6:5


“Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass?
Or does the ox low over his fodder?

Job 12:2-3


“No doubt you are the [only wise] people [in the world],
And wisdom will die with you!

Job 15:14


“What is man, that he should be pure and clean,
Or he who is born of a woman, that he should be righteous and just?

Job 28:28


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

Psalm 51:5


I was brought forth in [a state of] wickedness;
In sin my mother conceived me [and from my beginning I, too, was sinful].

Psalm 62:9-10


Men of low degree are only a breath (emptiness), and men of [high] rank are a lie (delusion).
In the balances they go up [because they have no measurable weight or value];
They are together lighter than a breath.

Psalm 92:6


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

Proverbs 30:2-4


Surely I am more brutish and stupid than any man,
And I do not have the understanding of a man [for I do not know what I do not know].

Jeremiah 2:24


Or [you have the untamed and reckless nature of] a wild donkey accustomed to the wilderness,
That sniffs the wind in her passion [for the scent of a mate].
In her mating season who can restrain her?
No males seeking her need to weary themselves;
In her month they will find her [looking for them].

Romans 1:22

Claiming to be wise, they became fools,

Romans 12:16

Live in harmony with one another; do not be haughty [conceited, self-important, exclusive], but associate with humble people [those with a realistic self-view]. Do not overestimate yourself.

1 Corinthians 3:18-20

Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool [discarding his worldly pretensions and acknowledging his lack of wisdom], so that he may become [truly] wise.

Ephesians 2:3

Among these [unbelievers] we all once lived in the passions of our flesh [our behavior governed by the sinful self], indulging the desires of human nature [without the Holy Spirit] and [the impulses] of the [sinful] mind. We were, by nature, children [under the sentence] of [God’s] wrath, just like the rest [of mankind].

James 2:20

But are you willing to recognize, you foolish [spiritually shallow] person, that faith without [good] works is useless?

James 3:13-17

Who among you is wise and intelligent? Let him by his good conduct show his [good] deeds with the gentleness and humility of true wisdom.

King James Version Public Domain

Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers.

International Standard Version Copyright © 1996-2008 by the ISV Foundation.

New American Standard Bible Copyright ©1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org

American Standard Version Public Domain

NET Bible copyright © 1996-2006 by Biblical Studies Press, L.L.C. NetBible

Basic English, produced by Mr C. K. Ogden of the Orthological Institute - public domain