The plans of the heart belong to man;
But the answer of the tongue is from Jehovah.
All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes;
But Jehovah weigheth the spirits.
{Hebrew: Roll.}Commit thy works unto Jehovah,
And thy purposes shall be established.
Jehovah hath made everything for {Or, his own purpose}its own end;
Yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.
Every one that is proud in heart is an abomination to Jehovah:
Though hand join in hand, he shall not be unpunished.
By mercy and truth iniquity is atoned for;
And by the fear of Jehovah men depart from evil.
When a man's ways please Jehovah,
He maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
Better is a little, with righteousness,
Than great revenues with injustice.
A man's heart deviseth his way;
But Jehovah directeth his steps.
{Hebrew: Divination.}A divine sentence is in the lips of the king;
His mouth shall not transgress in judgment.
A just balance and scales are Jehovah's;
All the weights of the bag are his work.
It is an abomination to kings to commit wickedness;
For the throne is established by righteousness.
Righteous lips are the delight of kings;
And they love him that speaketh right.
The wrath of a king is as messengers of death;
But a wise man will pacify it.
In the light of the king's countenance is life;
And his favor is as a cloud of the latter rain.
How much better is it to get wisdom than gold!
Yea, to get understanding is rather to be chosen than silver.
The highway of the upright is to depart from evil:
He that keepeth his way preserveth his soul.
Pride goeth before destruction,
And a haughty spirit before a fall.
Better it is to be of a lowly spirit with the {Or, meek}poor,
Than to divide the spoil with the proud.
He that {Or, handleth a matter wisely}giveth heed unto the word shall find good;
And whoso trusteth in Jehovah, happy is he.
The wise in heart shall be called prudent;
And the sweetness of the lips increaseth learning.
Understanding is a well-spring of life unto him that hath it;
But the correction of fools is their folly.
The heart of the wise instructeth his mouth,
And addeth learning to his lips.
Pleasant words are as a honeycomb,
Sweet to the soul, and health to the bones.
There is a way which {Or, is straight before}seemeth right unto a man,
But the end thereof are the ways of death.
The appetite of the laboring man laboreth for him;
For his mouth urgeth him thereto.
A worthless man {Hebrew: diggeth.}deviseth mischief;
And in his lips there is as a scorching fire.
A perverse man scattereth abroad strife;
And a whisperer {Or, alienateth his friend}separateth chief friends.
A man of violence enticeth his neighbor,
And leadeth him in a way that is not good.
{Or, He that shutteth his eyes to devise perverse things, That compresseth his lips, bringeth &c.}He that shutteth his eyes, it is to devise perverse things:
He that compresseth his lips bringeth evil to pass.
The hoary head is a crown of {Or, beauty}glory;
{Or, If it be found}It shall be found in the way of righteousness.
He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
And he that ruleth his spirit, than he that taketh a city.
The lot is cast into the lap;
But the whole disposing thereof is of Jehovah.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 16,6 Spr 16,6
Kindness and truth preserve the king;And {Or, he upholdeth his throne}his throne is upholden by kindness.
The fear of Jehovah is to hate evil:Pride, and arrogancy, and the evil way,And the perverse mouth, do I hate.
Mercy and truth are met together;Righteousness and peace have kissed each other.
A wise man feareth, and departeth from evil;But the fool beareth himself insolently, and is confident.
Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and {Or, redeem}break off thy sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor; if there may be {Or, as otherwise read, a healing of thine error}a lengthening of thy tranquillity.
The fear of Jehovah is a fountain of life,That one may depart from the snares of death.
Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in lovingkindness.
He will again have compassion upon us; he will {Or, subdue our iniquities}tread our iniquities under foot; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.
{Or, Thou wilt show thy faithfulness &c.}Thou wilt {Hebrew: give.}perform the truth to Jacob, and the lovingkindness to Abraham, which thou hast sworn unto our fathers from the days of old.
And Abraham said, Because I thought, Surely the fear of God is not in this place; and they will slay me for my wife's sake.
But give for alms those things which {Or, ye can}are within; and behold, all things are clean unto you.
Also I said, The thing that ye do is not good: ought ye not to walk in the fear of our God, because of the reproach of the nations our enemies?
Every branch in me that beareth not fruit, he taketh it away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he cleanseth it, that it may bear more fruit.
But the former governors that were before me {Or, laid burdens upon}were chargeable unto the people, and took of them bread and wine, {Or, at the rate of Or, afterward}besides forty shekels of silver; yea, even their servants {Or, lorded over}bare rule over the people: but so did not I, because of the fear of God.
and he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith.
There was a man in the land of Uz, whose name was {Hebrew: Iyob.}Job; and that man was perfect and upright, and one that feared God, and turned away from evil.
And there were born unto him seven sons and three daughters.
His {Or, cattle}substance also was seven thousand sheep, and three thousand camels, and five hundred yoke of oxen, and five hundred she-asses, and a very great household; so that this man was the greatest of all the children of the east.
And his sons went and held a feast in the house of each one upon his day; and they Sent and called for their three sisters to eat and to drink with them.
And it was so, when the days of their feasting were gone about, that Job sent and sanctified them, and rose up early in the morning, and offered burnt-offerings according to the number of them all: for Job said, It may be that my sons have sinned, and {Or, blasphemed So verse 11, chapter 2:5, 9.}renounced God in their hearts. Thus did Job continually.
Now it came to pass on the day when the sons of God came to present themselves before Jehovah, that {That is, the Adversary.}Satan also came among them.
And Jehovah said unto Satan, Whence comest thou? Then Satan answered Jehovah, and said, From going to and fro in the earth, and from walking up and down in it.
And Jehovah said unto Satan, Hast thou considered my servant Job? {Or, that}for there is none like him in the earth, a perfect and an upright man, one that feareth God, and turneth away from evil.
Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another {Many ancient authorities read from a clean heart. Compare 1 Timothy 1:5.}from the heart fervently:
And unto man he said,Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;And to depart from evil is understanding.
Having therefore these promises, beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God.
subjecting yourselves one to another in the fear of Christ.