Proverbs 28
28
1The wicked flee though none pursue;
but the just, like a lion, are confident.
2If a land is rebellious, its princes will be many;
but with an intelligent and wise ruler there is stability.#The first line expresses the paradox that rebellion, far from doing away with rulers, actually multiplies them. The second line is corrupt.
3One who is poor and extorts from the lowly
is a devastating rain that leaves no food.#The reference may be to tax farmers who collected taxes and took a commission. The collectors’ lack of wealth was the cause of their oppression of poor farmers. They are like a rain too violent to allow crops to grow.
4Those who abandon instruction#Instruction: torah; the word is used both for the teaching of the wise and the law of Moses. praise the wicked,
but those who keep instruction oppose them.
5The evil understand nothing of justice,#Understanding nothing of justice plays on the twofold sense of justice as righteousness and as punishment that comes on the wicked. On the other hand, those who seek the Lord understand everything, i.e., that the Lord punishes the wicked and rewards the righteous (themselves).
but those who seek the Lord understand everything.
6Better to be poor and walk in integrity
than rich and crooked in one’s ways.#Prv 19:1.
7Whoever heeds instruction is a wise son,
but whoever joins with wastrels disgraces his father.
8Whoever amasses wealth by interest and overcharge#Interest and overcharge were strictly forbidden in the old law among Israelites because it was presumed that the borrower was in distress; cf. Ex 22:25; Lv 25:35–37; Dt 23:20; Ps 15:5; Ez 18:8. Divine providence will take the offender’s wealth; cf. Eccl 2:26.
gathers it for the one who is kind to the poor.
9Those who turn their ears from hearing instruction,#Prv 15:8; 21:27.
even their prayer is an abomination.
10Those who mislead the upright into an evil way
will themselves fall into their own pit,
but the blameless will attain prosperity.
11The rich are wise in their own eyes,
but the poor who are intelligent see through them.
12When the just triumph, there is great glory;
but when the wicked prevail, people hide.#People react in opposite ways to the triumph of good and evil. To the triumph of good, they react by public display, public celebration, and to the triumph of evil, by hiding.
13Those who conceal their sins do not prosper,
but those who confess and forsake them obtain mercy.#Concealing the faults of another is a good thing in Proverbs (17:9), but concealing one’s own sins is not. Ps 32:1–5 expresses the anguish caused by concealing one’s sins rather than bringing them to light so they can be healed by God.
14Happy those who always fear;#Fear is a different verb than in the phrase “to fear (or revere) the Lord.” In its only other biblical occurrence (Is 51:13), the verb means to dread an oppressor. The saying states a paradox: those who fear in the sense of being cautious are declared happy, whereas those who are fearless will fall into traps they did not “fear.” In short, there is good fear and bad fear.
but those who harden their hearts fall into evil.
15A roaring lion or a ravenous bear
is a wicked ruler over a poor people.
16The less prudent the rulers, the more oppressive their deeds.
Those who hate ill-gotten gain prolong their days.
17Though a person burdened with blood guilt is in flight even to the grave,
let no one offer support.
18Whoever walks blamelessly is safe,
but one whose ways are crooked falls into a pit.
19Those who cultivate their land will have plenty of food,
but those who engage in idle pursuits will have plenty of want.#Prv 12:11.
20The trustworthy will be richly blessed;
but whoever hastens to be rich will not go unpunished.#Prv 13:11.
21To show partiality is never good:#Prv 24:23.
for even a morsel of bread one may do wrong.#Cf. 24:23. Verse 21b warns that even in a light matter one must remain impartial.
22Misers hurry toward wealth,
not knowing that want is coming toward them.#“Bad of eye” is the Hebrew idiom for miserly. Misers fail to see that poverty is hurrying toward them because of their wrong attitude toward wealth. Because misers are “bad of eye,” they do not see the danger.
23Whoever rebukes another wins more favor
than one who flatters with the tongue.
24Whoever defrauds father or mother and says, “It is no sin,”#Mk 7:11–13.
is a partner to a brigand.
25The greedy person stirs up strife,
but the one who trusts in the Lord will prosper.
26Those who trust in themselves are fools,
but those who walk in wisdom are safe.
27Those who give to the poor have no lack,#Prv 19:17; Sir 4:3–8.
but those who avert their eyes, many curses.
28When the wicked prevail, people hide;
but at their fall the just abound.#Prv 28:12.
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Confraternity of Christian Doctrine, Inc
Proverbs 28
28
1The wicked have fled and there is no pursuer. And the righteous as a young lion is confident.
2By the transgression of a land many [are] its heads. And by an intelligent man, Who knoweth right — it is prolonged.
3A man — poor and oppressing the weak, [Is] a sweeping rain, and there is no bread.
4Those forsaking the law praise the wicked, Those keeping the law plead against them.
5Evil men understand not judgment, And those seeking Jehovah understand all.
6Better [is] the poor walking in his integrity, Than the perverse of ways who is rich.
7Whoso is keeping the law is an intelligent son, And a friend of gluttons, Doth cause his father to blush.
8Whoso is multiplying his wealth by biting and usury, For one favouring the poor doth gather it.
9Whoso is turning his ear from hearing the law, Even his prayer [is] an abomination.
10Whoso is causing the upright to err in an evil way, Into his own pit he doth fall, And the perfect do inherit good.
11A rich man is wise in his own eyes, And the intelligent poor searcheth him.
12In the exulting of the righteous the glory [is] abundant, And in the rising of the wicked man is apprehensive.
13Whoso is covering his transgressions prospereth not, And he who is confessing and forsaking hath mercy.
14O the happiness of a man fearing continually, And whoso is hardening his heart falleth into evil.
15A growling lion, and a ranging bear, [Is] the wicked ruler over a poor people.
16A leader lacking understanding multiplieth oppressions, Whoso is hating dishonest gain prolongeth days.
17A man oppressed with the blood of a soul, Unto the pit fleeth, none taketh hold on him.
18Whoso is walking uprightly is saved, And the perverted of ways falleth at once.
19Whoso is tilling his ground is satisfied [with] bread, And whoso is pursuing vanity, Is filled [with] poverty.
20A stedfast man hath multiplied blessings, And whoso is hasting to be rich is not acquitted.
21To discern faces is not good, And for a piece of bread doth a man transgress.
22Troubled for wealth [is] the man [with] an evil eye, And he knoweth not that want doth meet him.
23Whoso is reproving a man afterwards findeth grace, More than a flatterer with the tongue.
24Whoso is robbing his father, or his mother, And is saying, ‘It is not transgression,’ A companion he is to a destroyer.
25Whoso is proud in soul stirreth up contention, And whoso is trusting on Jehovah is made fat.
26Whoso is trusting in his heart is a fool, And whoso is walking in wisdom is delivered.
27Whoso is giving to the poor hath no lack, And whoso is hiding his eyes multiplied curses.
28In the rising of the wicked a man is hidden, And in their destruction the righteous multiply!
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