The king's heart is in the hand of Jehovah as the watercourses:
He turneth it whithersoever he will.
Every way of a man is right in his own eyes;
But Jehovah weighteth the hearts.
To do righteousness and justice
Is more acceptable to Jehovah than sacrifice.
A high look, and a proud heart,
{Or, And the tillage}Even the lamp of the wicked, is sin.
The thoughts of the diligent tend only to plenteousness;
But every one that is hasty hasteth only to want.
The getting of treasures by a lying tongue
Is a vapor driven to and fro by them that seek death.
The violence of the wicked shall sweep them away,
Because they refuse to do justice.
The way of him that is laden with guilt is exceeding crooked;
But as for the pure, his work is {Or, straight}right.
It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop,
Than with a contentious woman in {Or, a house in common Hebrew: a house of society.}a wide house.
The soul of the wicked desireth evil:
His neighbor findeth no favor in his eyes.
When the scoffer is punished, the simple is made wise;
And {Or, when one considereth the wise}when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge.
{Or, One that is righteous…he overthroweth the wicked &c.}The righteous man considereth the house of the wicked,
How the wicked are overthrown to their ruin.
Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor,
He also shall cry, but shall not be heard.
A gift in secret {Hebrew: bendeth.}pacifieth anger;
And a present in the bosom, strong wrath.
It is joy to the righteous to do justice;
{Or, But destruction shall be to &c.}But it is a destruction to the workers of iniquity.
The man that wandereth out of the way of understanding
Shall rest in the assembly of {Or, the shades Hebrew: Rephaim.}the dead.
He that loveth pleasure shall be a poor man:
He that loveth wine and oil shall not be rich.
The wicked is a ransom for the righteous;
And the treacherous cometh in the stead of the upright.
It is better to dwell in a desert land,
Than with {Or, a contentious woman and vexation}a contentious and fretful woman.
There is precious treasure and oil in the dwelling of the wise;
But a foolish man swalloweth it up.
He that followeth after righteousness and kindness
Findeth life, righteousness, and honor.
A wise man scaleth the city of the mighty,
And bringeth down the strength of the confidence thereof.
Whoso keepeth his mouth and his tongue
Keepeth his soul from troubles.
The proud and haughty man, scoffer is his name;
He worketh in the arrogance of pride.
The desire of the sluggard killeth him;
For his hands refuse to labor.
There is that coveteth greedily all the day long;
But the righteous giveth and withholdeth not.
The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination:
How much more, when he bringeth it {Or, to atone for wickedness}with a wicked mind!
A false witness shall perish;
But the man that heareth shall speak so as to endure.
A wicked man hardeneth his face;
But as for the upright, {Another reading is, he considereth his way.}he establisheth his ways.
There is no wisdom nor understanding
Nor counsel against Jehovah.
The horse is prepared against the day of battle;
But {Or, deliverance}victory is of Jehovah.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 21,13 Spr 21,13
Their poison is like the poison of a serpent:They are like the deaf adder that stoppeth her ear,
He that giveth unto the poor shall not lack;But he that hideth his eyes shall have many a curse.
Then will they call upon me, but I will not answer;They will seek me {Or, early}diligently, but they shall not find me:
But they refused to hearken, and {Or, turned a stubborn shoulder}pulled away the shoulder, and {Or, made their ears heavy See Isaiah 6:10.}stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
If there be with thee a poor man, one of thy brethren, within any of thy gates in thy land which Jehovah thy God giveth thee, thou shalt not harden thy heart, nor shut thy hand from thy poor brother;
but thou shalt surely open thy hand unto him, and shalt surely lend him sufficient for his need in that which he wanteth.
Beware that there be not a base thought in thy heart, saying, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand; and thine eye be evil against thy poor brother, and thou give him nought; and he cry unto Jehovah against thee, and it be sin unto thee.
Thou shalt surely give him, and thy heart shall not be grieved when thou givest unto him; because that for this thing Jehovah thy God will bless thee in all thy work, and in all that thou puttest thy hand unto.
For the poor will never cease out of the land: therefore I command thee, saying, Thou shalt surely open thy hand unto thy brother, to thy needy, and to thy poor, in thy land.
They cried, but there was none to save;Even unto Jehovah, but he answered them not.
But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed upon him with one accord;
Then there arose a great cry of the people and of their wives against their brethren the Jews.
For there were that said, We, our sons and our daughters, are many: let us get grain, that we may eat and live.
Some also there were that said, We are mortgaging our fields, and our vineyards, and our houses: let us get grain, because of the dearth.
There were also that said, We have borrowed money for the king's tribute upon our fields and our vineyards.
Yet now our flesh is as the flesh of our brethren, our children as their children: and, lo, we bring into bondage our sons and our daughters to be servants, and some of our daughters are brought into bondage already: neither is it in our power to help it; for other men have our fields and our vineyards.
When once the master of the house is risen up, and hath shut to the door, and ye begin to stand without, and to knock at the door, saying, Lord, open to us; and he shall answer and say to you, I know you not whence ye are;
Also I shook out my lap, and said, So God shake out every man from his house, and from his labor, that performeth not this promise; even thus be he shaken out, and emptied. And all the assembly said, Amen, and praised Jehovah. And the people did according to this promise.
And when ye spread forth your hands, I will hide mine eyes from you; yea, when ye make many prayers, I will not hear: your hands are full of blood.
Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil;
learn to do well; seek justice, {Or, set right the oppressor}relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.
Is not this the fast that I have chosen: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the bands of the yoke, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every yoke?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thy healing shall spring forth speedily; and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of Jehovah shall be thy rearward.
Then shalt thou call, and Jehovah will answer; thou shalt cry, and he will say, Here I am.If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke, the putting forth of the finger, and speaking wickedly;
but ye turned and profaned my name, and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom ye had let go free at their pleasure, to return; and ye brought them into subjection, to be unto you for servants and for handmaids.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah: ye have not hearkened unto me, to proclaim liberty, every man to his brother, and every man to his neighbor: behold, I proclaim unto you a liberty, saith Jehovah, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make you to be {Or, a terror unto}tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth.
Thus hath Jehovah of hosts spoken, saying, Execute true judgment, and show kindness and compassion every man to his brother;
and oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless, the sojourner, nor the poor; and let none of you devise evil against his brother in your heart.
But they refused to hearken, and {Or, turned a stubborn shoulder}pulled away the shoulder, and {Or, made their ears heavy See Isaiah 6:10.}stopped their ears, that they might not hear.
Yea, they made their hearts as an adamant stone, lest they should hear the law, and the words which Jehovah of hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets: therefore there came great wrath from Jehovah of hosts.
And it is come to pass that, as he cried, and they would not hear, so they shall cry, and I will not hear, said Jehovah of hosts;
For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you.
For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured unto you.
And he would not: but went and cast him into prison, till he should pay that which was due.
So when his fellow-servants saw what was done, they were exceeding sorry, and came and told unto their lord all that was done.
Then his lord called him unto him, and saith to him, Thou wicked {Greek: bondservant.}servant, I forgave thee all that debt, because thou besoughtest me:
shouldest not thou also have had mercy on thy fellow-servant, even as I had mercy on thee?
And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due.
So shall also my heavenly Father do unto you, if ye forgive not every one his brother from your hearts.
Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, {Or, Depart from me under a curse}Depart from me, ye cursed, into the eternal fire which is prepared for the devil and his angels:
for I was hungry, and ye did not give me to eat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink;
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
Then shall they also answer, saying, Lord, when saw we thee hungry, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not unto one of these least, ye did it not unto me.
And these shall go away into eternal punishment: but the righteous into eternal life.
For judgment is without mercy to him that hath showed no mercy: mercy glorieth against judgment.
What doth it profit, my brethren, if a man say he hath faith, but have not works? can that faith save him?
If a brother or sister be naked and in lack of daily food,
and one of you say unto them, Go in peace, be ye warmed and filled; and yet ye give them not the things needful to the body; what doth it profit?