11
📚A false balance is an abomination to the LORD,
but a just weight is his delight.
11:1 Lev 19:35-36; Deut 25:13-16; Amos 8:5; Micah 6:11. Any kind of dishonesty or crookedness is an abomination to God.⚜
2 📚When pride comes,
then comes shame;
but with the lowly is wisdom.
3 📚The integrity of the upright will guide them,
but the perverseness of transgressors
will destroy them.
4 📚Riches 📖 do not profit in the day
of wrath 📖,
but righteousness 📖 delivers from death.
5 📚The righteousness of the blameless
will direct his way,
but the wicked will fall by his own wickedness.
6 📚The righteousness of the upright
will rescue them,
but transgressors will be caught
in their own greed.
7 📚When a wicked man dies,
his expectation perishes,
and the hope of unjust men also perishes.
11:7 Prov 10:28; 11:23. Though there may be riches, fame, and pleasure in a wicked life, it is a vain and empty life which comes to nothing.⚜
8 📚The righteous is rescued from trouble,
and the wicked meets it instead.
9 📚A hypocrite with his mouth
destroys his neighbour,
but through knowledge the just
will be rescued.
11:9 Slander is a very evil thing. It is an attempt to destroy the name, reputation, and usefulness of another person (Ps 101:5).⚜
10 📚When it goes well with the righteous,
the city rejoices;
and when the wicked perish,
there is joyful shouting.
11 📚By the blessing of the upright
the city is exalted,
but it is overthrown by the mouth
of the wicked.
12 📚He who lacks wisdom despises
his neighbour,
but a man of understanding keeps silent.
13 📚A talebearer reveals secrets,
but he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.
14 📚Where there is no counsel,
the people fall;
but having many counsellors promotes safety.
15 📚He who puts up security for a stranger
will suffer for it
but he who hates putting up security is safe.
16 📚A gracious woman wins honour;
and strong men gain riches.
11:16 Respect is better than wealth – Prov 22:1.⚜
17 📚The merciful man does good
to his own soul,
but he who is cruel brings harm
on himself.
18 📚The wicked earns deceitful wages,
but to him who sows righteousness
will come a sure reward.
19 📚As righteousness tends to life,
so he who pursues evil pursues it
to his own death.
20 📚Those who are of a perverse heart are an
abomination 📖 to the LORD,
but those who are upright in their
way are his delight 📖.
21 📚Though hand join in hand,
the wicked will not be unpunished 📖,
but the offspring of the righteous
will be rescued.
22 📚Like a gold jewel in a pig’s snout,
is a beautiful woman who is
without discretion.
23 📚The desire of the righteous ends
only in good 📖,
but the expectation of the wicked
in wrath 📖.
24 📚There is that which scatters,
and yet increases;
and there is that which withholds
more than is right,
but it results in poverty.
25 📚The generous soul will be made prosperous,
and he who waters will also be watered himself.
11:24-25 Prov 22:9; Mal 3:10; Matt 7:2; Luke 6:38; 2 Cor 9:6-11. Here is a principle we should never forget. Why should God give His blessings to us if we will not give anything to Him and to others? Note and references on giving at 2 Cor 9:15.⚜
26 📚The people will curse the one
who withholds grain,
but blessing will be on the head
of the one who sells it.
27 📚He who diligently seeks good gains favour,
but he who searches for evil,
will have it come to him.
28 📚He who trusts in his riches will fall 📖,
but the righteous will flourish 📖 like a branch.
29 📚He who troubles his own house
will inherit the wind,
and the fool will be servant
to the wise of heart.
30 📚The fruit of the righteous is
a tree of life 📖,
and he who wins souls is wise 📖.
31 📚See that if the righteous
get their due on the earth,
much more the wicked and the sinner.