Proverbs 21:1–12

The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;

he yturns it wherever he will.

2  zEvery way of a man is right in his own eyes,

but the Lord aweighs the heart.

3  bTo do righteousness and justice

is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.

4  cHaughty eyes and a proud heart,

dthe lamp1 of the wicked, are sin.

5  The plans of ethe diligent lead surely to abundance,

but everyone who is fhasty comes gonly to poverty.

6  hThe getting of treasures by a lying tongue

is a ifleeting jvapor and a ksnare of death.2

7  The violence of the wicked will lsweep them away,

because they refuse to do what is just.

8  The way of the guilty mis crooked,

but the conduct of the pure is upright.

9  It is nbetter to live in a corner of the housetop

than in a house shared with a quarrelsome wife.

10  The soul of the wicked desires evil;

his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.

11  When oa scoffer is punished, the simple becomes wise;

when a wise man is instructed, he gains knowledge.

12  The Righteous One pobserves the house of the wicked;

he throws the wicked down to ruin.