A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
Parallel translations
- WEB A wicked man receives a bribe in secret, to pervert the ways of justice.
- BSB A wicked man takes a covert bribe to subvert the course of justice.
- NKJV A wicked man accepts a bribe behind the back To pervert the ways of justice.
- NASB A wicked person accepts a bribe from an inside pocket To pervert the ways of justice.
- NLT The wicked take secret bribes to pervert the course of justice.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Taking a secret bribe to twist justice is wicked. God condemns corrupt dealings that pervert what is fair and right.
Overview
Bribery 'in secret' perverts the very course of justice, and Scripture repeatedly forbids it (Exod. 23:8; Deut. 16:19). The hidden nature of the bribe shows the wicked man's awareness that his act cannot bear the light. God Himself is the perfectly just Judge who takes no bribe (Deut. 10:17), and the gospel both upholds His justice and provides righteousness through Christ to those who could never bribe their way to acquittal.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 12
- Deut 16:19Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
- Prov 17:8A gift is as a precious stone in the eyes of him that hath it: whithersoever it turneth, it prospereth.
- Exod 23:8And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous.
- Mic 7:3That they may do evil with both hands earnestly, the prince asketh, and the judge asketh for a reward; and the great man, he uttereth his mischievous desire: so they wrap it up.
- Isa 1:23Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
- Mic 3:11The heads thereof judge for reward, and the priests thereof teach for hire, and the prophets thereof divine for money: yet will they lean upon the LORD, and say, Is not the LORD among us? none evil can come upon us.
- 1 Sam 12:3Behold, here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
- Ezek 22:12In thee have they taken gifts to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by extortion, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
- Mark 14:10–11And Judas Iscariot, one of the twelve, went unto the chief priests, to betray him unto them.
- 1 Sam 8:3And his sons walked not in his ways, but turned aside after lucre, and took bribes, and perverted judgment.
- Prov 18:16A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
- Prov 21:14A gift in secret pacifieth anger: and a reward in the bosom strong wrath.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 17:23 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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