Divers weights are an abomination unto the LORD; and a false balance is not good.
Parallel translations
- WEB Yahweh detests differing weights, and dishonest scales are not pleasing.
- BSB Unequal weights are detestable to the LORD, and dishonest scales are no good.
- NKJV Diverse weights are an abomination to the Lord, And dishonest scales are not good.
- NASB Differing weights are an abomination to the Lord, And a false scale is not good.
- NLT The Lord detests double standards; he is not pleased by dishonest scales.
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
The Lord detests dishonest weights and scales. It matters because God hates fraud and demands honesty in dealings.
Overview
Reinforcing verse 10, this proverb stresses again that cheating in trade is repugnant to God. The repetition underscores how seriously the Lord regards everyday integrity (Leviticus 19:36; Micah 6:11). Honest dealing flows from reverence for the God of truth and justice.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 5
- Prov 20:10Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the LORD.
- Hos 12:7He is a merchant, the balances of deceit are in his hand: he loveth to oppress.
- Prov 11:1A false balance is abomination to the LORD: but a just weight is his delight.
- Ezek 45:10Ye shall have just balances, and a just ephah, and a just bath.
- Amos 8:5Saying, When will the new moon be gone, that we may sell corn? and the sabbath, that we may set forth wheat, making the ephah small, and the shekel great, and falsifying the balances by deceit?
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 20:23 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
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.