28
📚The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
2 📚Because of the transgression of a land,
it has many rulers,
but by a man of understanding
and knowledge it will endure.
3 📚A poor man who oppresses the poor
is like a driving rain
which leaves no food.
4 📚They who forsake the law praise the wicked,
but those who keep the law oppose them.
28:4 Will anyone praise the wicked? See Rom 1:32. Such is the fallen world in which we live. Those who follow the teachings of the God of holiness and truth must stand against evil. Examples – Ex 32:26-29; Ps 101; Eph 5:11; 6:11.⚜
5 📚Evil men do not understand justice,
but they who seek the LORD understand all things.
6 📚Better is the poor who walks
in his integrity,
than he who is rich but perverse
in his ways.
7 📚Whoever keeps the law is
a wise son,
but he who is a companion of gluttons shames
his father.
8 📚He who increases his possessions
by usury 📖 and dishonest gain will gather
it for him 📖 who has pity on the poor.
9 📚As for the one who turns
his ear away from hearing the law,
even his prayer will be an abomination.
10 📚Whoever causes the righteous
to go astray in an evil way will himself fall
into his own pit,
but the upright will have a good inheritance.
11 📚The rich man is wise in his own eyes,
but the poor who has understanding
sees through him.
12 📚When righteous people rejoice,
there is great honour,
but when the wicked rise up,
a man hides himself.
13 📚He who covers his sins will not prosper,
but whoever confesses and forsakes
them will have mercy.
28:13 Gen 3:8; Josh 7:11-12, 20, 21, 25, 26; Ps 32:1-5; Isa 55:6-7; Hos 14:1-2; 1 John 1:9. All of men’s sins will eventually be revealed (Ps 90:8; Matt 10:26; 1 Cor 4:5; 2 Cor 5:10; Heb 4:12-13; Rev 20:12). It is impossible to hide them from God. How foolish to try, when by confessing and forsaking them they can be forgiven and blotted out forever. Observe that forsaking one’s sins is as important as confessing them. Compare Ex 9:27.⚜
14 📚Happy 📖 is the man who always fears 📖
the LORD, but he who hardens 📖
his heart will fall into trouble.
15 📚Like a roaring lion and
a charging bear is a wicked ruler
over a poor people.
28:15 Some rulers have been (and some still are) as bad as cruel, ravenous beasts. The final world ruler will be the most awful example of this (Rev 13:1-8).⚜
16 📚The ruler who lacks understanding
is also a great oppressor,
but he who hates covetousness
will prolong his days.
17 📚A man who does violence
to the blood of any person is fleeing
to the pit.
Let no one support him.
18 📚Whoever walks uprightly will be rescued,
but he who is perverse
in his ways will fall at once.
19 📚He who tills his land will have plenty of food,
but he who follows vain persons
will have poverty enough.
20 📚A faithful man will have abundant blessings 📖,
but he who makes haste to be rich 📖
will not be innocent.
21 📚To show favoritism is not good,
because for a piece of bread a man
will transgress.
28:21 It is better to die of starvation than to do wrong.⚜
22 📚He whose eye is evil hastens to be rich,
and does not consider that poverty
will come on him.
23 📚He who rebukes a man will find
more favour afterwards than
he who flatters with the tongue.
24 📚Whoever robs his father or his mother,
and says, “It is not wrong”,
that person is a companion
of one who destroys.
25 📚He who has a proud heart stirs up strife,
but he who puts his trust in the LORD
will prosper.
26 📚He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
but whoever walks wisely will be rescued.
28:26 These two verses (vs 25,26) reveal a choice that will have profound results in all aspects of our life on earth and into eternity. The wise man trusts in God, the fool trusts himself, his own opinions, his intellect, his reasoning power, etc.⚜
27 📚He who gives to the poor will not lack,
but he who hides his eyes from them
will have many a curse.
28:27 Prov 14:21; 22:9; Deut 24:19; Ps 41:1; Matt 25:42. Again the importance of helping the poor is emphasized. God sees the poor and He sees what we do or do not do to help them.⚜
28 📚When the wicked rise up,
men hide themselves, but when they perish,
the righteous increase.