Proverbs 21:1-9

On Life and Conduct

1 The king's heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He ¹turns it wherever * * He wishes.

2 ²Every man's way is right in his own eyes, But the LORD ³weighs the hearts.

3 To do ⁴righteousness and justice Is desired by the LORD more than sacrifice.

4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart, The ⁵lamp of the wicked, is sin.

5 The plans of the ⁶diligent lead surely to advantage, But everyone ⁷who is hasty comes surely to poverty.

6 The ⁸acquisition of treasures by a lying tongue Is a fleeting vapor, the pursuit of ⁹death.

7 The violence of the wicked will drag them away, Because they ¹⁰refuse to act with justice.

8 The way of a guilty man is ¹¹crooked, But as for the pure, his conduct is upright.

9 It is better to live in a corner of a roof Than in a house shared with a contentious woman.

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Proverbs 21:1-9 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 9

This chapter relates a second vision Solomon had at Gibeon, in which he received an answer to his prayer in the preceding chapter, 1Ki 9:1-9 that passed between him and Hiram king of Tyre, 1Ki 9:10-14, the places that Solomon built or repaired, 1Ki 9:15-19, the Canaanitish people that became bondmen to him, and the officers he had among the children of Israel, 1Ki 9:20-23 the removal of Pharaoh's daughter to the house built for her, 1Ki 9:24. Solomon's attention to religious services, 1Ki 9:25 and the navy of ships he employed, which brought him in great riches, 1Ki 9:26-28.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 11

1. Ezra 6:22
2. Proverbs 16:2
3. Proverbs 16:2; Proverbs 24:12; Luke 16:15
4. 1 Samuel 15:22; Proverbs 15:8; Is 1:11, 16, 17; Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:7, 8
5. Proverbs 24:20; Luke 11:34
6. Proverbs 10:4; Proverbs 13:4
7. Proverbs 28:22
8. Proverbs 13:11; Proverbs 20:21
9. Proverbs 8:36
10. Amos 5:7; Micah 3:9
11. Proverbs 2:15

Footnotes 2

[a]. Lit "seekers"
[b]. Lit "with a woman of contentions and a house of association"