Proverbs 21:7-17

7 The violence of wicked people will drag them away since they refuse to do what is just.

8 The way of a guilty person is crooked, but the behavior of those who are pure is moral.

9 Better to live on a corner of a roof than to share a home with a quarreling woman.

10 The mind of a wicked person desires evil and has no consideration for his neighbor.

11 When a mocker is punished, a gullible person becomes wise, and when a wise person is instructed, he gains knowledge.

12 A righteous person wisely considers the house of a wicked person. He throws wicked people into disasters.

13 Whoever shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will call and not be answered.

14 A gift [given] in secret calms anger, and a secret bribe calms great fury.

15 When justice is done, a righteous person is delighted, but troublemakers are terrified.

16 A person who wanders from the way of wise behavior will rest in the assembly of the dead.

17 Whoever loves pleasure will become poor. Whoever loves wine and expensive food will not become rich.

Proverbs 21:7-17 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.