22:1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor meet together;
the Lord is the maker of them all.
3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
is riches and honor and life. [1]
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail.
9 Whoever has a bountiful [2] eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.
10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11 He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the traitor.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!”
14 The mouth of forbidden [3] women is a deep pit;
he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
and favor is better than silver or gold.
2 The rich and the poor meet together;
the Lord is the maker of them all.
3 The prudent sees danger and hides himself,
but the simple go on and suffer for it.
4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord
is riches and honor and life. [1]
5 Thorns and snares are in the way of the crooked;
whoever guards his soul will keep far from them.
6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
7 The rich rules over the poor,
and the borrower is the slave of the lender.
8 Whoever sows injustice will reap calamity,
and the rod of his fury will fail.
9 Whoever has a bountiful [2] eye will be blessed,
for he shares his bread with the poor.
10 Drive out a scoffer, and strife will go out,
and quarreling and abuse will cease.
11 He who loves purity of heart,
and whose speech is gracious, will have the king as his friend.
12 The eyes of the Lord keep watch over knowledge,
but he overthrows the words of the traitor.
13 The sluggard says, “There is a lion outside!
I shall be killed in the streets!”
14 The mouth of forbidden [3] women is a deep pit;
he with whom the Lord is angry will fall into it.
15 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child,
but the rod of discipline drives it far from him.
16 Whoever oppresses the poor to increase his own wealth,
or gives to the rich, will only come to poverty.
Words of the Wise
17 Incline your ear, and hear the words of the wise,
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the Lord,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,
21 to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
and apply your heart to my knowledge,
18 for it will be pleasant if you keep them within you,
if all of them are ready on your lips.
19 That your trust may be in the Lord,
I have made them known to you today, even to you.
20 Have I not written for you thirty sayings
of counsel and knowledge,
21 to make you know what is right and true,
that you may give a true answer to those who sent you?
22 Do not rob the poor, because he is poor,
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
23 for the Lord will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.
24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
25 lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Be not one of those who give pledges,
who put up security for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
28 Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.
or crush the afflicted at the gate,
23 for the Lord will plead their cause
and rob of life those who rob them.
24 Make no friendship with a man given to anger,
nor go with a wrathful man,
25 lest you learn his ways
and entangle yourself in a snare.
26 Be not one of those who give pledges,
who put up security for debts.
27 If you have nothing with which to pay,
why should your bed be taken from under you?
28 Do not move the ancient landmark
that your fathers have set.
29 Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.
5 comments:
v1 A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches,and favor is better than silver or gold.
Riches, silver or gold by themselves are not evil. In fact it must be something good in them that the bible use them in numreous time as a kind of standard or comparison to bring out better choice(e.g. favour is better than silver and gold (v1b) or chose good name over riches (v1a) )
The Lord himself reward us with riches (v4)
It is the ungodly means in gaterhing and using of one's riches or the forfeiting of things and principles which are important in God's eye when acquiring and managing one's riches that that are abomination to the Lord e.g.
v8 sow injustice
v16 oppresses the poor.. gives to the rich
v22 rob the poor or crush the afflicted
and in other proverbs e.g Proverb 11 , false balance(v1),pride (v2), ill gain (v18),withholding what you should give (v24), seeks evil (v27), trust in riches (v28)
Look agin at proverb 11:28
28 Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will flourish like a green leaf.
It is reasonable even at this stage to conclude from the above that God has asked us not to seek riches. There is really no logic that the Lord ask us to seek riches and yet don't trust in it.
This is later made abundantly clear in the NT:
1 tim 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil.
Seek not, trust not and love not. Let remind our heart to flee as far as possible form this source, root cause of all evil.. the love of money!
Insteads let trust God to reward it to us as He deemed fit as we in humility seeking Him (His rightesouness ) and live a life of fear before Him. (v4)
Matthew 6:33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.
Remember King solomon? He seeked Godly wisdom to rule God's people, and God added riches to his life. It was not the other way round.
v4 The reward for humility and fear of the Lord is riches and honor and life.
v6 Train up a child in the way he should go;
even when he is old he will not depart from it.
>> That's if the parents know the way. The world's broken as it is. What makes a good parent?
29 Do you see a man skillful in his work?
He will stand before kings;
he will not stand before obscure men.
>> Indeed! :)
Reply to Ellis...
Precisely, the family's priority is to keep on providing for the child financial needs that the kid has been neglected most of the time... If the family is lucky, the grandparents may have an influence on the child otherwise, it is the indonesian maid.... That's a worry...
v2 The rich and the poor meet together;the Lord is the maker of them all.
If we begin to look at the people we meet everyday: rich or poor, young or old, dark or yellow, man or woman,beautiful or ugly, likeable or unlikeable (i.e irrespective of their appearances, their mannerisms and the circumstances that they are in),... as all being made by God and according to His image, then our perspective of people and souls will surely be changed. All our prejudices will be replaced by compassion and love.
The Lord make them all! There are all precious in God's eye, created by Him for His glory. But yet many have gone astray, many not recognizing nor acknowledging the maker.
O how we as a church should pray often and unceasingly for all people to return to their maker.
Give us souls, Lord..
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