² ·God is honored for what he keeps secret [^LIt is the glory of God to hide a matter/things; Deut. 29:29].
·Kings are honored for what they can discover [^LIt is the glory of kings to examine them].

³ No one can ·measure [examine] the height of the skies or the depth of the earth.
So also no one can ·understand [examine] the ·mind [^Lheart] of a king.

⁴ ·Remove [Separate] the ·scum [dross] from the silver,
    so ·the silver can be used by the silversmith [^La vessel will come out for refining].
⁵ ·Remove [Separate] wicked people from the king’s presence;
    then his ·government [^Lthrone] will be ·honest and last a long time [^Lestablished in righteousness].

⁶ Don’t ·brag [honor yourself] to the king
    and ·act as if you are great [^Ldon’t stand in the place of important people].
⁷ It is better for him to ·give you a higher position [^Lsay to you, “Come up here”]
    than to bring you down in front of the prince [Luke 14:7–11].

Because of something you have seen,

¹⁵ With patience you can convince a ruler,
and a ·gentle [tender] word ·can get through to the hard-headed [^Lbreaks bone].