"There is a way which seems right to a man" (14:12). How can anyone tell?

The verse doesn't say which way it means, or how to tell. It says only that a way can seem right and still end in death (14:12), and the book says it twice (Proverbs 16:25). Other sayings in the book set a man's own view of his way beside something else: "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but he who is wise listens to counsel" (Proverbs 12:15), and "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts" (Proverbs 21:2). In both, way and right are the Hebrew words of 14:12 (tap right). This chapter says what the prudent do: "The wisdom of the prudent is to think about his way" (14:8), and "A simple man believes everything, but the prudent man carefully considers his ways" (14:15). And it ties a person's walk to the fear of the LORD: "He who walks in his uprightness fears the LORD" (14:2). The chapter gives no single test, and these notes don't add one.