To show partiality is not good, yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
Parallel translations
- WEB To show partiality is not good; yet a man will do wrong for a piece of bread.
- KJV To have respect of persons is not good: for for a piece of bread that man will transgress.
- NKJV To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.
- NASB To show partiality is not good, Because for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
- NLT Showing partiality is never good, yet some will do wrong for a mere piece of bread.
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
Showing partiality is wrong, yet some will betray justice for the smallest bribe. It condemns favoritism and the corruption of integrity for trivial gain.
Overview
The proverb declares partiality evil and exposes how cheaply some will sell their integrity, doing wrong even for a piece of bread. It warns against the slow corruption that begins with small compromises. God shows no partiality, and the gospel forms a people who likewise reject favoritism and love their neighbors impartially (James 2:1).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Ezek 13:19You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.
- Prov 24:23These also are sayings of the wise: To show partiality in judgment is not good.
- Prov 18:5Showing partiality to the wicked is not good, nor is depriving the innocent of justice.
- Exod 23:2You shall not follow the crowd in wrongdoing. When you testify in a lawsuit, do not pervert justice by siding with the crowd.
- Mic 7:3Both hands are skilled at evil; the prince and the judge demand a bribe. When the powerful utters his evil desire, they all conspire together.
- Exod 23:8Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds those who see and twists the words of the righteous.
- Rom 16:18For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the hearts of the naive.
- Mic 3:5This is what the LORD says: “As for the prophets who lead My people astray, who proclaim peace while they chew with their teeth, but declare war against one who puts nothing in their mouths:
- Hos 4:18When their liquor is gone, they turn to prostitution; their rulers dearly love disgrace.
- 2 Pet 2:3In their greed, these false teachers will exploit you with deceptive words. The longstanding verdict against them remains in force, and their destruction does not sleep.
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 28:21 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.