Proverbs 21:5-15

5 Good planning and hard work lead to prosperity, but hasty shortcuts lead to poverty.

6 Wealth created by a lying tongue is a vanishing mist and a deadly trap.

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

8 The guilty walk a crooked path; the innocent travel a straight road.

9 It’s better to live alone in the corner of an attic than with a quarrelsome wife in a lovely home.

10 Evil people desire evil; their neighbors get no mercy from them.

11 If you punish a mocker, the simpleminded become wise; if you instruct the wise, they will be all the wiser.

12 The Righteous One knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked; he will bring disaster on them.

13 Those who shut their ears to the cries of the poor will be ignored in their own time of need.

14 A secret gift calms anger; a bribe under the table pacifies fury.

15 Justice is a joy to the godly, but it terrifies evildoers.

Proverbs 21:5-15 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] As in Greek version; Hebrew reads mist for those who seek death.
• [b] Or The righteous man.