Proverbs 28
28
If You Desert God’s Law
1The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off
even when no one’s after them;
Honest people are relaxed and confident,
bold as lions.
2When the country is in chaos,
everybody has a plan to fix it—
But it takes a leader of real understanding
to straighten things out.
3The wicked who oppress the poor
are like a hailstorm that beats down the harvest.
4If you desert God’s law, you’re free to embrace depravity;
if you love God’s law, you fight for it tooth and nail.
5Justice makes no sense to the evilminded;
those who seek God know it inside and out.
6It’s better to be poor and direct
than rich and crooked.
7Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom;
hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family.
8Get as rich as you want
through cheating and extortion,
But eventually some friend of the poor
is going to give it all back to them.
9God has no use for the prayers
of the people who won’t listen to him.
10Lead good people down a wrong path
and you’ll come to a bad end;
do good and you’ll be rewarded for it.
11The rich think they know it all,
but the poor can see right through them.
12When good people are promoted, everything is great,
but when the bad are in charge, watch out!
13You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it;
you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.
14A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life;
a hardhearted person lives a hard life.
15Lions roar and bears charge—
and the wicked lord it over the poor.
16Among leaders who lack insight, abuse abounds,
but for one who hates corruption, the future is bright.
17A murderer haunted by guilt
is doomed—there’s no helping him.
18Walk straight—live well and be saved;
a devious life is a doomed life.
Doing Great Harm in Seemingly Harmless Ways
19Work your garden—you’ll end up with plenty of food;
play and party—you’ll end up with an empty plate.
20Committed and persistent work pays off;
get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs.
21Playing favorites is always a bad thing;
you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.
22A miser in a hurry to get rich
doesn’t know that he’ll end up broke.
23In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated
far more than bootlicking flattery.
24Anyone who robs father and mother
and says, “So, what’s wrong with that?”
is worse than a pirate.
25A grasping person stirs up trouble,
but trust in God brings a sense of well-being.
26If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure;
real survivors learn wisdom from others.
27Be generous to the poor—you’ll never go hungry;
shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses.
28When corruption takes over, good people go underground,
but when the crooks are thrown out, it’s safe to come out.
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THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson. All rights reserved. Used by permission of NavPress. Represented by Tyndale House Publishers.
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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