Proverbs 11 in plain modern English. New Ground English Translation.
Time Period
10th century BC, during the reign of King Solomon (~970-930 BC)
Location
United Kingdom of Israel, centered in Jerusalem
Audience
The people of Israel, especially young men, princes, and those seeking wisdom
Situation
Proverbs 11 is a collection of 31 individual wisdom sayings, primarily in antithetical parallelism, contrasting the fates of the righteous and the wicked to promote godly living.
Key Background
Attributed to Solomon, renowned for his God-given wisdom (1 Kings 4:29-34), this chapter belongs to Israel's wisdom literature genre, offering practical guidance on integrity, generosity, speech, relationships, and trust in God. It was composed during a period of peace, prosperity, and national stability under Solomon's rule, allowing for reflective teachings on moral conduct. These proverbs aim to equip readers to navigate daily life wisely, promising blessings for righteousness and ruin for folly.
Dishonest scales are to but an accurate weight is his
When shows up, humiliation follows right behind, but wisdom stays with those who are
The of the guides them, but the crookedness of the destroys them.
Wealth is useless on the day of but rescues from death.
The goodness of a person clears their path, but the collapse under their own corruption.
The of the upright rescues them, but the treacherous get trapped by their own
When a corrupt person dies, their dies with them -- everything they expected from their comes to nothing.
The just is pulled out of and the corrupt walks right into it.
With their mouth the destroy their neighbor, but through the just are rescued.
When things go well for the just, the whole celebrates; when the corrupt go down, there are shouts of joy.
By the of the upright, a city rises; by the mouth of the corrupt, it gets torn down.
Someone with no looks down on their neighbor, but a person with keeps their mouth shut.
A goes around revealing secrets, but someone you can keeps things confidential.
Without a nation falls apart, but with many advisors there is
a will end badly for you; refusing to make that kind of promise keeps you safe.
A woman gains just as ruthless people grab wealth.
A person does themselves good, but a person does themselves harm.
The corrupt earn but the person who reaps a real reward.
leads to life, but chasing after evil leads to death.
People with are disgusting to Yahweh, but those whose way of life is -- they are his delight.
You can on this: corrupt people will not go unpunished, but the children of the just will be
Like a gold ring in a pig's snout -- that's a beautiful woman who rejects
What the just want leads only to good; what the corrupt expect leads to
Some people and end up with even more; others what they should and end up with less.
A will thrive, and whoever others will themselves be refreshed.
People curse the one who but they pour out on the one who is willing to sell.
Whoever earnestly pursues good finds but whoever goes looking for -- it will find them.
Whoever trusts in their wealth will but the just will
Whoever brings ruin on their own household will inherit nothing but and the fool will end up serving the wise.
The fruit of a just person is a of and someone who is wise
If the just get what they deserve here on how much more will the corrupt and those who get theirs.