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

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15 He who (A)justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous,
Both of them alike are an abomination to Yahweh.

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

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

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

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

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15 To do justice is [a]pleasure for the righteous,
But is (A)ruin to the workers of iniquity.

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 21:15 Lit gladness

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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11 (A)Deliver those who are being taken away to death,
And those who are stumbling to the slaughter, Oh hold them back.
12 If you say, “Behold, we did not know this,”
Does not He (B)who weighs the hearts (C)understand?
And (D)does not He who (E)guards your soul know?
And will not He [a](F)render to man according to his work?

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:12 Lit bring back

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

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Footnotes

  1. Proverbs 24:23 Lit recognize a face

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

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Evil men (A)do not understand justice,
But those who seek Yahweh (B)understand all things.

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

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26 (A)Many seek the face of a ruler,
But (B)justice for man comes from Yahweh.

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