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 21,23 Spr 21,23
In the multitude of words there wanteth not transgression;But he that refraineth his lips {Or, is wise}doeth wisely.
In the transgression of the lips is {Or, an evil snare}a snare to the evil man;But the righteous shall come out of trouble.
He that guardeth his mouth keepeth his life;But he that openeth wide his lips shall have destruction.
He {Or, that hath knowledge spareth his words, And a man of understanding is of a cool spirit}that spareth his words hath knowledge;And he that is of a cool spirit is a man of understanding.
Even a fool, when he holdeth his peace, is counted wise; {Or, He that shutteth his lips is &c.}When he shutteth his lips, he is esteemed as prudent.
Death and life are in the power of the tongue;And they that love it shall eat the fruit thereof.
If any man {Or, seemeth to be}thinketh himself to be religious, while he bridleth not his tongue but deceiveth his heart, this man's religion is vain.
For in many things we all stumble. If any stumbleth not in word, the same is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body also.
Now if we put the horses' bridles into their mouths that they may obey us, we turn about their whole body also.
Behold, the ships also, though they are so great and are driven by rough winds, are yet turned about by a very small rudder, whither the impulse of the steersman willeth.
So the tongue also is a little member, and boasteth great things. Behold, {Or, how great a forest}how much wood is kindled by how small a fire!
And the tongue is {Or, a fire, that world of iniquity: the tongue is among our members that which &c.}a fire: the {Or, that world of iniquity: the tongue, is among our members that which &c.}world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defileth the whole body, and setteth on fire the wheel of {Or, birth}nature, and is set on fire by {Greek: Gehenna.}hell.
For every {Greek: nature.}kind of beasts and birds, of creeping things and things in the sea, is tamed, and hath been tamed {Or, unto}by {Greek: the human nature.}mankind:
but the tongue can no man tame; it is a restless evil, it is full of deadly poison.
Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God:
out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not so to be.
Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter?
Can a fig tree, my brethren, yield olives, or a vine figs? neither can salt water yield sweet.
Who is wise and understanding among you? let him show by his good life his works in meekness of wisdom.