Remove the wicked from the king’s court, and his reign will be made secure by justice.
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.
- BSB Remove the wicked from the king’s presence, and his throne will 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.
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 the throne of judgment scatters away all evil with his eyes.
- Prov 16:12It is an abomination for kings to do wrong, for the throne is established by righteousness.
- Ps 101:7–8He who practices deceit won’t dwell within my house. He who speaks falsehood won’t be established before my eyes.
- Prov 20:28Love and faithfulness keep the king safe. His throne is sustained by love.
- Isa 16:5A throne will be established in loving kindness. One will sit on it in truth, in the tent of David, judging, seeking justice, and swift to do righteousness.
- 1 Kgs 2:33So their blood will return on the head of Joab, and on the head of his offspring forever. But for David, for his offspring, for his house, and for his throne, there will be peace forever from Yahweh.”
- Isa 9:7Of the increase of his government and of peace there shall be no end, on David’s throne, and on his kingdom, to establish it, and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from that time on, even forever. The zeal of Yahweh of Armies will perform this.
- Prov 29:14The king who fairly judges the poor, his throne shall be established forever.
- Esth 7:10So they hanged Haman on the gallows that he had prepared for Mordecai. Then was the king’s wrath pacified.
- 1 Kgs 2:46So the king commanded Benaiah the son of Jehoiada; and he went out, and fell on him, so that he died. The kingdom was established in the hand of Solomon.
- Esth 8:11–17In those letters, the king granted the Jews who were in every city to gather themselves together, and to defend their life, to destroy, to kill, and to cause to perish, all the power of the people and province that would assault them, their little ones and women, 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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