The book repeats this saying almost word for word at 27:12.
Quick answer
Prudence has weather eyes. The sensible man sees trouble forming and steps out of its path; the naive walk on into it and pay the toll.
Read both lines
The first line gives prudence its defining skill: foreseeing evil and acting on the foresight without embarrassment. There is no bravado in wisdom; the prudent man does not negotiate with an oncoming flood. The second line watches the simple, this book's word for the untrained, "pass on," walking the same road as though seeing nothing, and paying for it, not to a court but to the trouble itself. The verse does not promise the prudent a world without evil, only the chance not to be standing where it lands. Faith never requires marching into a foreseen flood to prove anything.
Related: Proverbs 27:12 · Proverbs 14:16 · Genesis 41:33–36
New King James Version®, Copyright © 1982, Thomas Nelson. All rights reserved. Full copyright information. Scripture provided by API.Bible.
Go Deeper
If this verse has been used to put weight on you that it was never carrying, ask about it directly.