In Hebrew, the verse is:
מִשְׁלֵי שְׁלֹמֹה פ בֵּן חָכָם יְשַׂמַּח־אָב וּבֵן כְּסִיל תּוּגַת אִמּֽוֹ׃
If I understand correctly, the word יְשַׂמַּח means "makes glad," so the first clause is something like "A wise son makes glad a father," which the NKJV just shuffles around a bit.
At first, I noticed only that the contrast between "wise" and "foolish" and between "glad" and grief" is further emphasized by the different types of verbs: "makes" is an active verb, but "is" (which is merely implied in the Hebrew) is a stative verb.
When I started looking at other translations, I found more to comment on. The ESV is basically the same as the NKJV (it has "sorrow to" instead of "grief of"), but the NIV is different: "A wise son brings joy to his father, but a foolish son grief to his mother." Here, these contrasts are highlighted by the omission of the verb in the second clause ("a foolish son [brings] grief to his mother").
Either of these constructions (the contrasting active and stative verbs or the elliptical phrasing) may hint at laziness on the part of the foolish son, who merely exists instead of actively doing or whose efforts are lacking. The following verses, which continue to compare sons, comment plainly on laziness: "4 Lazy hands make a man poor, but diligent hands bring wealth. 5 He who gathers crops in summer is a wise son, but he who sleeps during harvest is a disgraceful son."
In the Latin Vulgate, the verse is comparable to the NKJV and ESV translations: "Parabolae Salomonis Filius sapiens laetificat patrem filius vero stultus maestitia est matris suae."
