15 One who (A)justifies the wicked and one who condemns the righteous,
Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.

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15 Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent—
    both are detestable to the Lord.

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26 It is also not good to (A)fine the righteous,
Nor to strike the noble for their uprightness.

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26 It is wrong to punish the godly for being good
    or to flog leaders for being honest.

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To (A)show partiality to the wicked is not good,
Nor to (B)suppress the righteous in judgment.

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It is not right to acquit the guilty
    or deny justice to the innocent.

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15 The exercise of justice is joy for the righteous,
But (A)terror to those who practice injustice.

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15 Justice is a joy to the godly,
    but it terrifies evildoers.

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11 (A)Rescue those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are staggering to the slaughter, Oh hold them back!
12 If you say, “See, we did not know this,”
Does He (B)who weighs the hearts not (C)consider it?
And (D)does He who (E)watches over your soul not know it?
And will He not [a](F)repay a person according to his work?

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:12 Lit bring back to

11 Rescue those who are unjustly sentenced to die;
    save them as they stagger to their death.
12 Don’t excuse yourself by saying, “Look, we didn’t know.”
    For God understands all hearts, and he sees you.
He who guards your soul knows you knew.
    He will repay all people as their actions deserve.

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23 These also are (A)sayings of the wise:
To [a](B)show partiality in judgment is not good.
24 One (C)who says to the wicked, “You are righteous,”
(D)Peoples will curse him, nations will scold him;
25 But (E)for those who rebuke the wicked there will be delight,
And a good blessing will come upon them.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:23 Lit regard the face

More Sayings of the Wise

23 Here are some further sayings of the wise:

It is wrong to show favoritism when passing judgment.
24 A judge who says to the wicked, “You are innocent,”
    will be cursed by many people and denounced by the nations.
25 But it will go well for those who convict the guilty;
    rich blessings will be showered on them.

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Evil people (A)do not understand justice,
But those who seek the Lord (B)understand everything.

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Evil people don’t understand justice,
    but those who follow the Lord understand completely.

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26 (A)Many seek the ruler’s [a]favor,
But (B)justice for mankind comes from the Lord.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 29:26 Lit face

26 Many seek the ruler’s favor,
    but justice comes from the Lord.

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