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the Week of Proper 9 / Ordinary 14
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THE MESSAGE

Proverbs 17:23

The wicked take bribes under the table; they show nothing but contempt for justice.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Bribery;   Thompson Chain Reference - Nation, the;   The Topic Concordance - Judges;   Wickedness;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Presents;  

Dictionaries:

- Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Justice;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Pardon;   Easton Bible Dictionary - Apparel;   Dress;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Bribery;   Proverbs, Book of;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Gift, Giving;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Blindness, Judicial;   Gift;   Way;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Bribery;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
A wicked person secretly takes a bribeto subvert the course of justice.
Hebrew Names Version
A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, To pervert the ways of justice.
King James Version
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
English Standard Version
The wicked accepts a bribe in secret to pervert the ways of justice.
New American Standard Bible
A wicked person accepts a bribe from an inside pocket To pervert the ways of justice.
New Century Version
When the wicked accept money to do wrong there can be no justice.
Amplified Bible
A wicked man receives a bribe from the [hidden] pocket To pervert the ways of justice.
World English Bible
A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, To pervert the ways of justice.
Geneva Bible (1587)
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosome to wrest the wayes of iudgement.
Legacy Standard Bible
A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosomTo thrust aside the paths of justice.
Berean Standard Bible
A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
Contemporary English Version
Crooks accept secret bribes to keep justice from being done.
Complete Jewish Bible
From under a cloak a bad man takes a bribe to pervert the course of justice.
Darby Translation
A wicked [man] taketh a gift out of the bosom, to pervert the paths of judgment.
Easy-to-Read Version
A wicked judge will accept a bribe, and that keeps justice from being done.
George Lamsa Translation
He who accepts a bribe is wicked; for he perverts the way of justice.
Good News Translation
Corrupt judges accept secret bribes, and then justice is not done.
Lexham English Bible
The wicked will accept a bribe from the lap, in order to pervert the ways of justice.
Literal Translation
The wicked takes a bribe out of the bosom to pervert the paths of justice.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
The vngodly taketh giftes out of the bosome, to wraist the wayes of iudgment.
American Standard Version
A wicked man receiveth a bribe out of the bosom, To pervert the ways of justice.
Bible in Basic English
A sinner takes an offering out of his robe, to get a decision for himself in a cause.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom, to pervert the ways of justice.
King James Version (1611)
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosome, to peruert the wayes of iudgement.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
The vngodly taketh gyftes out of the bosome, to wrest the wayes of iudgement.
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
The ways of a man who unjustly receives gifts in his bosom do not prosper; and an ungodly man perverts the ways of righteousness.
English Revised Version
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom, to pervert the ways of judgment.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
A wickid man takith yiftis fro the bosum, to mys turne the pathis of doom.
Update Bible Version
A wicked man receives a bribe out of the bosom, To pervert the ways of justice.
Webster's Bible Translation
A wicked [man] taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
New English Translation
A wicked person receives a bribe secretly to pervert the ways of justice.
New King James Version
A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back [fn] To pervert the ways of justice.
New Living Translation
The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice.
New Life Bible
A sinful man receives pay in secret to change the right way into wrong-doing.
New Revised Standard
The wicked accept a concealed bribe to pervert the ways of justice.
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
A bribe out of his bosom, doth a lawless man take, to pervert the ways of justice.
Douay-Rheims Bible
The wicked man taketh gifts out of the bosom, that he may pervert the paths of judgment.
Revised Standard Version
A wicked man accepts a bribe from the bosom to pervert the ways of justice.
Young's Literal Translation
A bribe from the bosom the wicked taketh, To turn aside the paths of judgment.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
A wicked man receives a bribe from the bosom To pervert the ways of justice.

Contextual Overview

23 The wicked take bribes under the table; they show nothing but contempt for justice.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Proverbs 17:8, Proverbs 18:16, Proverbs 21:14, Exodus 23:8, Deuteronomy 16:19, 1 Samuel 8:3, 1 Samuel 12:3, Isaiah 1:23, Ezekiel 22:12, Micah 7:3, Mark 14:10, Mark 14:11

Reciprocal: Deuteronomy 27:19 - General Ecclesiastes 7:7 - a gift Isaiah 5:23 - for reward Acts 24:26 - hoped

Cross-References

Genesis 17:9
God continued to Abraham, "And you: You will honor my covenant, you and your descendants, generation after generation. This is the covenant that you are to honor, the covenant that pulls in all your descendants: Circumcise every male. Circumcise by cutting off the foreskin of the penis; it will be the sign of the covenant between us. Every male baby will be circumcised when he is eight days old, generation after generation—this includes house-born slaves and slaves bought from outsiders who are not blood kin. Make sure you circumcise both your own children and anyone brought in from the outside. That way my covenant will be cut into your body, a permanent mark of my permanent covenant. An uncircumcised male, one who has not had the foreskin of his penis cut off, will be cut off from his people—he has broken my covenant."
Genesis 17:18
Recovering, Abraham said to God, "Oh, keep Ishmael alive and well before you!"
Genesis 17:19
But God said, "That's not what I mean. Your wife, Sarah, will have a baby, a son. Name him Isaac (Laughter). I'll establish my covenant with him and his descendants, a covenant that lasts forever.
Genesis 34:24
Everyone who was anyone in the city agreed with Hamor and his son, Shechem; every male was circumcised.
Proverbs 27:1
Don't brashly announce what you're going to do tomorrow; you don't know the first thing about tomorrow.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

A wicked [man] taketh a gift out of the bosom,.... Of another, of a rich man, who takes it out from thence, and offers it to him as a bribe. This he takes in the most secret manner, that it might not be seen by others; though the Arabic version renders it, "he that receives a gift in his own bosom commits iniquity"; it is true of both the giver and the receiver; the one gives out of his bosom, and the other takes if from thence, and puts it into his own, and both are wicked. And the words are by some rendered, though it seems contrary to the accents, "a gift out of the bosom of the wicked he will take" z; the unjust judge, who is bribed with it:

to pervert the ways of judgment; to turn the course of justice, and hinder it from taking place; favouring a bad cause, and pronouncing a wrong sentence, which is wresting judgment.

z שחד מחיק רשע יקח "munus de sinu impii accipiet", Baynus.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The words “out of the bosom,” from the fold of the garment, rather than from the bag or girdle in which money was usually carried, possibly point to the stealthiness with which the “gift” (or, bribe) is offered to the judge.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 17:23. A gift out of the bosom — Out of his purse; as in their bosoms, above their girdles, the Asiatics carry their purses. I have often observed this.


 
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