Proverbs 21:12-22

12 A God-loyal person will see right through the wicked and undo the evil they've planned.

13 If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor, your cries will go unheard, unanswered.

14 A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person; a heartfelt present cools a hot temper.

15 Good people celebrate when justice triumphs, but for the workers of evil it's a bad day.

16 Whoever wanders off the straight and narrow ends up in a congregation of ghosts.

17 You're addicted to thrills? What an empty life! The pursuit of pleasure is never satisfied.

18 What a bad person plots against the good, boomerangs; the plotter gets it in the end.

19 Better to live in a tent in the wild than with a cross and petulant spouse.

20 Valuables are safe in a wise person's home; fools put it all out for yard sales.

21 Whoever goes hunting for what is right and kind finds life itself - glorious life!

22 One sage entered a whole city of armed soldiers - their trusted defenses fell to pieces!

Proverbs 21:12-22 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.