Proverbs 11

The LORD hates scales that cheat people, but he takes delight in weights that are honest.

1A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.

NoteA merchant weighed goods on a two-pan balance against stone weights. Shaved or doubled sets of weights and a rigged beam were common frauds, and Israelite law legislated against them (Leviticus 19:35-36; Deuteronomy 25:13-16). "Abomination" translates a strong Hebrew word for something utterly detestable, often used of what is unfit to bring anywhere near God.

2When pride shows up, disgrace comes with it. But wisdom is found with people who are humble.

2When pride cometh, then cometh shame: but with the lowly is wisdom.

3Honest people are guided by their integrity, but crooked people are destroyed by their own twisted ways.

3The integrity of the upright shall guide them: but the perverseness of transgressors shall destroy them.

4Riches do nothing for you on the day of God's anger, but doing what is right rescues a person from death.

4Riches profit not in the day of wrath: but righteousness delivereth from death.

Note"Day of wrath" is a set phrase for a time of reckoning or disaster, not a date on a calendar. The point of contrast is that wealth, which buys a way out of most troubles, buys nothing here.

5The right living of a blameless person keeps his path straight, but a wicked person is brought down by his own wickedness.

5The righteousness of the perfect shall direct his way: but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.

NoteKJV "perfect" translates a Hebrew word meaning whole, sound, of undivided integrity - blameless rather than flawless. The English word has narrowed its sense since 1611.

6Doing what is right rescues honest people, but those who break faith are trapped by their own cravings.

6The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them: but transgressors shall be taken in their own naughtiness.

NoteKJV "naughtiness" meant wickedness or worthlessness in 1611, not childish mischief. The Hebrew word behind it means craving or greedy desire, which is why modern versions read "their own desires".

7When a wicked man dies, everything he was counting on dies with him, and the hope that unjust people placed in their own power comes to nothing.

7When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.

NoteThe second half of this verse is genuinely difficult in Hebrew. The key word can mean "strength, vigour" or be read as "wicked men", which is why the KJV and modern translations diverge here.

8The person who does right is pulled out of trouble, and the wicked person ends up in it instead.

8The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.

9A godless person ruins his neighbor with what he says, but people who do right are rescued by what they know.

9An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour: but through knowledge shall the just be delivered.

NoteKJV "hypocrite" is misleading to a modern ear. The Hebrew word means godless, profane, irreligious - someone with no regard for God at all, not someone putting on a pious act.

10When things go well for those who do right, the whole city is glad. When the wicked die, people shout for joy.

10When it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth: and when the wicked perish, there is shouting.

11A city is built up by the blessing that honest people bring, but it is torn down by the words of the wicked.

11By the blessing of the upright the city is exalted: but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.

12A person with no sense puts his neighbor down, but a person with understanding keeps quiet.

12He that is void of wisdom despiseth his neighbour: but a man of understanding holdeth his peace.

13A gossip tells other people's secrets, but a trustworthy person keeps a private matter private.

13A talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter.

NoteThe Hebrew for "talebearer" is literally "one who goes about", the word used of a traveling peddler. The picture is of a person carrying other people's secrets around as a trader carries goods.

14Without guidance, a people falls, but safety comes from having many advisers.

14Where no counsel is, the people fall: but in the multitude of counsellors there is safety.

NoteThe Hebrew word for "counsel" comes from the ropes used to steer a ship; it means guidance or skilled direction. "The people" here means a nation as a whole, not a crowd of individuals.

15Whoever promises to pay a stranger's debt will suffer for it, but whoever refuses to make such promises is safe.

15He that is surety for a stranger shall smart for it: and he that hateth suretiship is sure.

NoteStanding surety meant guaranteeing someone else's loan with your own property, and sometimes your own person: if the borrower defaulted, the guarantor could be stripped of goods or sold into debt-slavery. "Smart for it" is older English for "suffer for it". The agreement was sealed by striking hands (see verse 21).

16A kind and gracious woman gains honor, and ruthless men gain only riches.

16A gracious woman retaineth honour: and strong men retain riches.

NoteThe two halves of this proverb do not obviously match, and the Hebrew is very terse. It can be read as a contrast (she gains honor, they gain nothing but money) or as a parallel (each firmly holds what they set out to grasp). The ancient Greek version has a longer, four-line form of the saying.

17A kind person does himself good, but a cruel person brings trouble on himself.

17The merciful man doeth good to his own soul: but he that is cruel troubleth his own flesh.

Note"His own flesh" means his own body, his own self. The Hebrew word can also stretch to mean one's own kin, so the cruel man may be damaging his own family as well as himself.

18The wicked person earns wages that turn out to be worthless, but the one who plants right living gets a reward he can count on.

18The wicked worketh a deceitful work: but to him that soweth righteousness shall be a sure reward.

19True right living leads to life, but the person who chases after evil is chasing his own death.

19As righteousness tendeth to life: so he that pursueth evil pursueth it to his own death.

20The LORD hates people whose hearts are twisted, but he delights in people who live blameless lives.

20They that are of a froward heart are abomination to the LORD: but such as are upright in their way are his delight.

Note"Froward" is archaic English for crooked, perverse, turned the wrong way - the opposite of straight or upright. On "abomination", see the note at verse 1.

21You can be sure of this: the wicked will not escape punishment, but the children of those who do right will get away safely.

21Though hand join in hand, the wicked shall not be unpunished: but the seed of the righteous shall be delivered.

NoteThe Hebrew is literally "hand to hand", the gesture of striking hands to close a bargain. Used as a formula it means "you can take this as settled", though some read it as "though they join forces". "Seed" in the KJV means offspring or descendants.

22A beautiful woman who has no sense is like a gold ring in a pig's snout.

22As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.

NoteA gold ring through the nose was ordinary fine jewelry for a woman in this world (Genesis 24:47). The pig was an unclean animal in Israel, not kept in Israelite households at all, so the image sets something precious in the last place it could belong.

23What those who do right want leads only to good, but what the wicked expect ends in anger.

23The desire of the righteous is only good: but the expectation of the wicked is wrath.

24One person gives freely and ends up with more; another holds back more than he should and ends up poor.

24There is that scattereth, and yet increaseth; and there is that withholdeth more than is meet, but it tendeth to poverty.

Note"Scattereth" is a farming word: sowing seed by flinging it out across the ground by hand. Giving away looks like throwing away, yet it is how a crop starts. "More than is meet" means more than is fitting or proper.

25A generous person will do well, and whoever gives others a drink will himself be given one.

25The liberal soul shall be made fat: and he that watereth shall be watered also himself.

Note"Made fat" is not about body size. In a world of recurring hunger, fatness stood for prosperity, health and plenty. "He that watereth" is irrigation language: the one who brings water to someone else's dry ground.

26People curse the man who hoards grain, but blessing rests on the head of the man who sells it.

26He that withholdeth corn, the people shall curse him: but blessing shall be upon the head of him that selleth it.

Note"Corn" in the KJV means grain of any kind - wheat or barley - not maize. Holding grain back meant refusing to sell during a shortage so as to sell later at a famine price, a practice ordinary people had no defense against.

27Whoever works hard at seeking good will find favor, but whoever goes looking for trouble will have trouble come to him.

27He that diligently seeketh good procureth favour: but he that seeketh mischief, it shall come unto him.

28Whoever puts his trust in his riches will fall, but those who do right will thrive like green leaves.

28He that trusteth in his riches shall fall; but the righteous shall flourish as a branch.

29Whoever brings trouble on his own household will end up with nothing but wind, and the fool will be a servant to the person with a wise heart.

29He that troubleth his own house shall inherit the wind: and the fool shall be servant to the wise of heart.

NoteAn inheritance normally meant land passed down within a family, the one asset that could not simply vanish. To "inherit the wind" is to be left holding nothing at all. The "servant" of the second line would in practice be a household slave, often someone who had fallen into debt.

30What a righteous person produces is a tree of life, and the one who wins souls is wise.

30The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise.

Note"Tree of life" recalls the tree in the garden of Eden (Genesis 2-3) and is used in Proverbs as an image for whatever gives and sustains life. "Winneth souls" is literally "takes lives" or "takes persons"; the Hebrew word for soul here means a life or a whole living person, not a disembodied spirit. The phrase is ambiguous - elsewhere "taking lives" means killing - and some ancient versions read the line quite differently.

31Look: those who do right get what is coming to them here on earth. How much more, then, the wicked and the sinner.

31Behold, the righteous shall be recompensed in the earth: much more the wicked and the sinner.

Note"Much more" signals a standard Hebrew way of arguing from the lesser case to the greater: if the first is true, the second follows all the more. "In the earth" means in this life, here and now. The ancient Greek version read the first line as "if the righteous is scarcely saved", and it is that form that is quoted in 1 Peter 4:18.