Proverbs 28–29

If You Desert God’s Law

¹28The wicked are edgy with guilt, ready to run off

even when no one’s after them;

Honest people are relaxed and confident,

bold as lions.

²When the country is in chaos,

everybody has a plan to fix it—

But it takes a leader of real understanding

to straighten things out.

³The wicked who oppress the poor

are like a hailstorm that beats down the harvest.

⁴If you desert God’s law, you’re free to embrace depravity;

if you love God’s law, you fight for it tooth and nail.

⁵Justice makes no sense to the evil minded;

those who seek God know it inside and out.

⁶It’s better to be poor and direct

than rich and crooked.

⁷Practice God’s law—get a reputation for wisdom;

hang out with a loose crowd—embarrass your family.

⁸Get as rich as you want

through cheating and extortion,

But eventually some friend of the poor

is going to give it all back to them.

⁹God has no use for the prayers

of the people who won’t listen to him.

¹⁰Lead good people down a wrong path

and you’ll come to a bad end;

do good and you’ll be rewarded for it.

¹¹The rich think they know it all,

but the poor can see right through them.

¹²When good people are promoted, everything is great,

but when the bad are in charge, watch out!

¹³You can’t whitewash your sins and get by with it;

you find mercy by admitting and leaving them.

¹⁴A tenderhearted person lives a blessed life;

a hardhearted person lives a hard life.

¹⁵Lions roar and bears charge—

and the wicked lord it over the poor.

¹⁶Among leaders who lack insight, abuse abounds,

but for one who hates corruption, the future is bright.

¹⁷A murderer haunted by guilt

is doomed—there’s no helping him.

¹⁸Walk straight—live well and be saved;

a devious life is a doomed life.

Doing Great Harm in Seemingly Harmless Ways

¹⁹Work your garden—you’ll end up with plenty of food;

play and party—you’ll end up with an empty plate.

²⁰Committed and persistent work pays off;

get-rich-quick schemes are ripoffs.

²¹Playing favorites is always a bad thing;

you can do great harm in seemingly harmless ways.

²²A miser in a hurry to get rich

doesn’t know that he’ll end up broke.

²³In the end, serious reprimand is appreciated

far more than bootlicking flattery.

²⁴Anyone who robs father and mother

and says, “So, what’s wrong with that?”

is worse than a pirate.

²⁵A grasping person stirs up trouble,

but trust in God brings a sense of well-being.

²⁶If you think you know it all, you’re a fool for sure;

real survivors learn wisdom from others.

²⁷Be generous to the poor—you’ll never go hungry;

shut your eyes to their needs, and run a gauntlet of curses.

²⁸When corruption takes over, good people go underground,

but when the crooks are thrown out, it’s safe to come out.

If People Can’t See What God Is Doing

¹29For people who hate discipline

and only get more stubborn,

There’ll come a day when life tumbles in and they break,

but by then it’ll be too late to help them.

²When good people run things, everyone is glad,

but when the ruler is bad, everyone groans.

³If you love wisdom, you’ll delight your parents,

but you’ll destroy their trust if you run with whores.

⁴A leader of good judgment gives stability;

an exploiting leader leaves a trail of waste.

⁵A flattering neighbor is up to no good;

he’s probably planning to take advantage of you.

⁶Evil people fall into their own traps;

good people run the other way, glad to escape.

⁷The good-hearted understand what it’s like to be poor;

the hardhearted haven’t the faintest idea.

⁸A gang of cynics can upset a whole city;

a group of sages can calm everyone down.

⁹A sage trying to work things out with a fool

gets only scorn and sarcasm for his trouble.

¹⁰Murderers hate honest people;

moral folks encourage them.

¹¹A fool lets it all hang out;

a sage quietly mulls it over.

¹²When a leader listens to malicious gossip,

all the workers get infected with evil.

¹³The poor and their abusers have at least something in common:

they can both see—their sight, God’s gift!

¹⁴Leadership gains authority and respect

when the voiceless poor are treated fairly.

¹⁵Wise discipline imparts wisdom;

spoiled adolescents embarrass their parents.

¹⁶When degenerates take charge, crime runs wild,

but the righteous will eventually observe their collapse.

¹⁷Discipline your children; you’ll be glad you did—

they’ll turn out delightful to live with.

¹⁸If people can’t see what God is doing,

they stumble all over themselves;

But when they attend to what he reveals,

they are most blessed.

¹⁹It takes more than talk to keep workers in line;

mere words go in one ear and out the other.

²⁰Observe the people who always talk before they think—

even simpletons are better off than they are.

²¹If you let people treat you like a doormat,

you’ll be quite forgotten in the end.

²²Angry people stir up a lot of discord;

the intemperate stir up trouble.

²³Pride lands you flat on your face;

humility prepares you for honors.

²⁴Befriend an outlaw

and become an enemy to yourself.

When the victims cry out,

you’ll be included in their curses

if you’re a coward to their cause in court.

²⁵The fear of human opinion disables;

trusting in God protects you from that.

²⁶Everyone tries to get help from the leader,

but only God will give us justice.

²⁷Good people can’t stand the sight of deliberate evil;

the wicked can’t stand the sight of well-chosen goodness.