Proverbs 21:1-10

1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; he turns it wherever he will.

2 All deeds are right in the sight of the doer, but the Lord weighs the heart.

3 To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

4 Haughty eyes and a proud heart— the lamp of the wicked—are sin.

5 The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance, but everyone who is hasty comes only to want.

6 The getting of treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor and a snare of death.

7 The violence of the wicked will sweep them away, because they refuse to do what is just.

8 The way of the guilty is crooked, but the conduct of the pure is right.

9 It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a contentious wife.

10 The souls of the wicked desire evil; their neighbors find no mercy in their eyes.

Proverbs 21:1-10 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.

Footnotes

• [a]. Gk: Heb [seekers]