Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.
Parallel translations
- WEB Take away the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will be established in righteousness.
- KJV Take away the wicked from before the king, and his throne shall be established in righteousness.
- NKJV Take away the wicked from before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness.
- NASB Take away the wicked before the king, And his throne will be established in righteousness.
- NLT Remove the wicked from the king’s court, and his reign will be made secure by 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
Remove the wicked from a king's court and his throne will be secured in righteousness. Just rule depends on purging corruption.
Overview
Completing the refining metaphor of verse 4, this proverb teaches that stable, godly government requires removing wicked counselors. Righteousness, not mere power, establishes a throne (Prov 16:12). It anticipates the perfectly righteous reign of Christ, whose kingdom is founded on justice and from which all evil will finally be removed (Isa 9:7; Matt 13:41).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 11
- Prov 20:8A king who sits on a throne to judge sifts out all evil with his eyes.
- Prov 16:12Wicked behavior is detestable to kings, for a throne is established through righteousness.
- Ps 101:7–8No one who practices deceit shall dwell in my house; no one who tells lies shall stand in my presence.
- Prov 20:28Loving devotion and faithfulness preserve a king; by these he maintains his throne.
- Isa 16:5in loving devotion a throne will be established in the tent of David. A judge seeking justice and hastening righteousness will sit on it in faithfulness.
- 1 Kgs 2:33Their blood will come back upon the heads of Joab and his descendants forever; but for David, his descendants, his house, and his throne, there shall be peace from the LORD forever.”
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.
- Prov 29:14A king who judges the poor with fairness—his throne will be established forever.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows he had prepared for Mordecai. Then the fury of the king subsided.
- 1 Kgs 2:46Then the king commanded Benaiah son of Jehoiada, and he went out and struck Shimei down, and he died. Thus the kingdom was firmly established in the hand of Solomon.
- Esth 8:11–17By these letters the king permitted the Jews in each and every city the right to assemble and defend themselves, to destroy, kill, and annihilate all the forces of any people or province hostile to them, including women and children, and to plunder their possessions.
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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 25:5 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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