Add parallel Print Page Options

12 A worthless person, a man of iniquity,
    is he who walks with a perverse mouth,
13 who winks with his eyes, who signals with his feet,
    who motions with his fingers,
14 in whose heart is perverseness,
    who devises evil continually,
    who always sows discord.
15 Therefore his calamity will come suddenly.
    He will be broken suddenly, and that without remedy.

Read full chapter

The Malicious Man

12 A worthless person,(A) a wicked man
goes around speaking dishonestly,(B)
13 winking(C) his eyes, signaling with his feet,
and gesturing with his fingers.
14 He always plots evil(D) with perversity in his heart;
he stirs up trouble.(E)
15 Therefore calamity will strike him suddenly;
he will be shattered instantly, beyond recovery.(F)

Read full chapter

10 One winking with the eye causes sorrow,
    but a chattering fool will fall.
11 The mouth of the righteous is a spring of life,
    but violence covers the mouth of the wicked.

Read full chapter

10 A sly wink of the eye(A) causes grief,
and foolish lips will be destroyed.

11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life,(B)
but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence.(C)

Read full chapter

The integrity of the upright shall guide them,
    but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.

Read full chapter

The integrity of the upright guides them,(A)
but the perversity of the treacherous destroys them.(B)

Read full chapter

30 One who winks his eyes to plot perversities,
    one who compresses his lips, is bent on evil.

Read full chapter

30 The one who narrows his eyes is planning deceptions;
the one who compresses his lips brings about evil.(A)

Read full chapter

14 “It’s no good, it’s no good,” says the buyer;
    but when he is gone his way, then he boasts.

Read full chapter

14 “It’s worthless, it’s worthless!” the buyer says,
but after he is on his way, he gloats.

Read full chapter

Don’t eat the food of him who has a stingy eye,
    and don’t crave his delicacies:
    for as he thinks about the cost, so he is.
    “Eat and drink!” he says to you,
    but his heart is not with you.
The morsel which you have eaten you shall vomit up,
    and lose your good words.

Read full chapter

Don’t eat a stingy person’s bread,[a](A)
and don’t desire his choice food,(B)
for it’s like someone calculating inwardly.[b](C)
“Eat and drink,” he says to you,
but his heart is not with you.(D)
You will vomit the little you’ve eaten
and waste your pleasant words.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 23:6 Lit eat bread of an evil eye
  2. 23:7 LXX reads it is like someone swallowing a hair in the throat

23 Like silver dross on an earthen vessel
    are the lips of a fervent one with an evil heart.
24 A malicious man disguises himself with his lips,
    but he harbors evil in his heart.
25 When his speech is charming, don’t believe him,
    for there are seven abominations in his heart.
26 His malice may be concealed by deception,
    but his wickedness will be exposed in the assembly.

Read full chapter

23 Smooth[a] lips with an evil heart
are like glaze on an earthen vessel.(A)
24 A hateful person disguises himself with his speech
and harbors deceit within.
25 When he speaks graciously, don’t believe him,
for there are seven detestable things in his heart.(B)
26 Though his hatred is concealed by deception,
his evil will be revealed in the assembly.

Read full chapter

Footnotes

  1. 26:23 LXX; MT reads Burning