These also are proverbs of Solomon, which the men of Hezekiah king of Judah copied out.
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing;
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.
As the heavens for height, and the earth for depth,
So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Take away the dross from the silver,
And there cometh forth a vessel for the refiner:
Take away the wicked from before the king,
And his throne shall be established in righteousness.
{Hebrew: Glorify not thyself.}Put not thyself forward in the presence of the king,
And stand not in the place of great men:
For better is it that it be said unto thee, Come up hither,
Than that thou shouldest be put lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom thine eyes have seen.
Go not forth hastily to strive,
{Or, Lest it be said in the end thereof, What will thou do? When &c.}Lest thou know not what to do in the end thereof,
When thy neighbor hath put thee to shame.
Debate thy cause with thy neighbor himself,
{Or, But}And disclose not the secret of another;
Lest he that heareth it revile thee,
And thine infamy turn not away.
A word {Or, in due season}fitly spoken
Is like apples of gold in network of silver.
As {Or, a nose-ring}an ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold,
So is a wise reprover upon an obedient ear.
As the cold of snow in the time of harvest,
So is a faithful messenger to them that send him;
For he refresheth the soul of his masters.
As clouds and wind without rain,
So is he that boasteth himself {Hebrew: in a gift of falsehood.}of his gifts falsely.
By long forbearing is a {Or, judge}ruler persuaded,
And a soft tongue breaketh the bone.
Hast thou found honey? eat so much as is sufficient for thee,
Lest thou be filled therewith, and vomit it.
Let thy foot be seldom in thy neighbor's house,
Lest he be {Hebrew: full of thee.}weary of thee, and hate thee.
A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor
Is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.
Confidence in an unfaithful man in time of trouble
Is like a broken tooth, and a foot out of joint.
As one that taketh off a garment in cold weather, and as vinegar upon soda,
So is he that singeth songs to a heavy heart.
If {Hebrew: he that hateth thee}thine enemy be hungry, give him bread to eat;
And if he be thirsty, give him water to drink:
For thou wilt heap coals of fire upon his head,
And Jehovah will reward thee.
The north wind bringeth forth rain:
So doth a backbiting tongue an angry countenance.
It is better to dwell in the corner of the housetop,
Than with a contentious woman in a wide house.
As cold waters to a {Or, weary}thirsty soul,
So is good news from a far country.
As a {Hebrew: trampled.}troubled fountain, and a corrupted spring,
So is a righteous man that {Or, is moved }giveth way before the wicked.
It is not good to eat much honey:
{Or, But for men to search out their own glory is glory The Hebrew text is obscure.}So for men to search out their own glory is grievous.
{Or, He that hath no rule over his spirit}He whose spirit is without restraint
Is like a city that is broken down and without walls.
Querverweise zu Sprüche 25,15 Spr 25,15
A soft answer turneth away wrath;But a grievous word stirreth up anger.
The wrath of a king is as messengers of death;But a wise man will pacify it.
And he commanded them, saying, Thus shall ye say unto my lord Esau: Thus saith thy servant Jacob, I have sojourned with Laban, and stayed until now:
and I have oxen, and asses, and flocks, and men-servants, and maid-servants: and I have sent to tell my lord, that I may find favor in thy sight.
And the messengers returned to Jacob, saying, We came to thy brother Esau, and moreover he cometh to meet thee, and four hundred men with him.
Then Jacob was greatly afraid and was distressed: and he divided the people that were with him, and the flocks, and the herds, and the camels, into two companies;
and he said, If Esau come to the one company, and smite it, then the company which is left shall escape.
And Jacob said, O God of my father Abraham, and God of my father Isaac, O Jehovah, who saidst unto me, Return unto thy country, and to thy kindred, and I will do thee good:
{Hebrew: I am less than all &c.}I am not worthy of the least of all the lovingkindnesses, and of all the truth, which thou hast showed unto thy servant; for with my staff I passed over this Jordan; and now I am become two companies.
Deliver me, I pray thee, from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau: for I fear him, lest he come and smite me, the mother with the children.
And thou saidst, I will surely do thee good, and make thy seed as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude.
And he lodged there that night, and took of that which he had with him a present for Esau his brother:
two hundred she-goats and twenty he-goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams,
thirty milch camels and their colts, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty she-asses and ten foals.
And he delivered them into the hand of his servants, every drove by itself, and said unto his servants, Pass over before me, and put a space betwixt drove and drove.
And he commanded the foremost, saying, When Esau my brother meeteth thee, and asketh thee, saying, Whose art thou? and whither goest thou? and whose are these before thee?
then thou shalt say They are thy servant Jacob's; it is a present sent unto my lord Esau: and, behold, he also is behind us.
And he commanded also the second, and the third, and all that followed the droves, saying, On this manner shall ye speak unto Esau, when ye find him;
and ye shall say, Moreover, behold, thy servant Jacob is behind us. For he said, I will appease him with the present that goeth before me, and afterward I will see his face; peradventure he will accept me.
So the present passed over before him: and he himself lodged that night in the company.
But one of the young men told Abigail, Nabal's wife, saying, Behold, David sent messengers out of the wilderness to {Hebrew: bless.}salute our master; and he railed at them.
And she fell at his feet, and said, Upon me, my lord, upon me be the iniquity; and let thy handmaid, I pray thee, speak in thine ears, and hear thou the words of thy handmaid.
Let not my lord, I pray thee, regard this worthless fellow, even Nabal; for as his name is, so is he; {That is, Fool.}Nabal is his name, and folly is with him: but I thy handmaid saw not the young men of my lord, whom thou didst send.
Now therefore, my lord, as Jehovah liveth, and as thy soul liveth, seeing Jehovah hath withholden thee {Hebrew: from coming into blood.}from bloodguiltiness, and from {Hebrew: thine own hand saving thee.}avenging thyself with thine own hand, now therefore let thine enemies, and them that seek evil to my lord, be as Nabal.
And now this {Hebrew; blessing.}present which thy servant hath brought unto my lord, let it be given unto the young men that follow my lord.
Forgive, I pray thee, the trespass of thy handmaid: for Jehovah will certainly make my lord a sure house, because my lord fighteth the battles of Jehovah; and evil shall not be found in thee all thy days.
And though men be risen up to pursue thee, and to seek thy soul, yet the soul of my lord shall be bound in the bundle of {Or, the living}life with Jehovah thy God; and the souls of thine enemies, them shall he sling out, as from the hollow of a sling.
And it shall come to pass, when Jehovah shall have done to my lord according to all the good that he hath spoken concerning thee, and shall have appointed thee prince over Israel,
that this shall be no {Hebrew: cause of staggering.}grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord, {Or, so that thou shouldest shed &c.}either that thou hast shed blood without cause, or that my lord hath avenged himself. And when Jehovah shall have dealt well with my lord, then remember thy handmaid.
And David said to Abigail, Blessed be Jehovah, the God of Israel, who sent thee this day to meet me:
and blessed be thy discretion, and blessed be thou, that hast kept me this day from bloodguiltiness, and from avenging myself with mine own hand.
For in very deed, as Jehovah, the God of Israel, liveth, who hath withholden me from hurting thee, except thou hadst hasted and come to meet me, surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light so much as one man-child.
So David received of her hand that which she had brought him: and he said unto her, Go up in peace to thy house; see, I have hearkened to thy voice, and have accepted thy person.
And Abigail came to Nabal; and, behold, he held a feast in his house, like the feast of a king; and Nabal's heart was merry within him, for he was very drunken: wherefore she told him nothing, less or more, until the morning light.
And it came to pass in the morning, when the wine was gone out of Nabal, that his wife told him these things, and his heart died within him, and he became as a stone.
And it came to pass about ten days after, that Jehovah smote Nabal, so that he died.
And when David heard that Nabal was dead, he said, Blessed be Jehovah, that hath pleaded the cause of my reproach from the hand of Nabal, and hath kept back his servant from evil: and the evil-doing of Nabal hath Jehovah returned upon his own head. And David sent and spake concerning Abigail, to take her to him to wife.
And when the servants of David were come to Abigail to Carmel, they spake unto her, saying, David hath sent us unto thee, to take thee to him to wife.
And she arose, and bowed herself with her face to the earth, and said, Behold, thy handmaid is a servant to wash the feet of the servants of my lord.
And Abigail hasted, and arose, and rode upon an ass, with five damsels of hers that followed her; and she went after the messengers of David, and became his wife.
David also took Ahinoam of Jezreel; and they became both of them his wives.
Now Saul had given Michal his daughter, David's wife, to {In 2 Samuel 3:15, Paltiel.}Palti the son of Laish, who was of Gallim.
If the spirit of the ruler rise up against thee, leave not thy place; for {Or, calmness leaveth great sins undone}gentleness allayeth great offences.