Many seek the ruler’s favor, but a man receives justice from the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Many seek the ruler’s favor, but a man’s justice comes from Yahweh.
- KJV Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD.
- NKJV Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for man comes from the Lord.
- NASB Many seek the ruler’s favor, But justice for mankind comes from the Lord.
- NLT Many seek the ruler’s favor, but justice comes from the Lord.
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
Many court a ruler's favor, but real justice comes from the LORD.
Overview
People seek advantage from powerful figures, yet earthly rulers are limited and often partial. Ultimate vindication and justice rest with God alone, who judges rightly. This frees believers from anxious flattery of the powerful and rests their hope in the LORD, the righteous Judge revealed fully in Christ, who will set all things right.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Prov 19:6Many seek the favor of the prince, and everyone is a friend of the gift giver.
- Ps 20:9O LORD, save the king. Answer us on the day we call.
- Prov 19:21Many plans are in a man’s heart, but the purpose of the LORD will prevail.
- Ps 62:12and loving devotion to You, O Lord. For You will repay each man according to his deeds.
- Isa 46:9–11Remember what happened long ago, for I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like Me.
- Neh 1:11O Lord, may Your ear be attentive to my prayer and to the prayers of Your servants who delight to revere Your name. Give Your servant success this day, I pray, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man.” (At that time I was the cupbearer to the king.)
- Ezra 7:27–28Blessed be the LORD, the God of our fathers, who has put into the heart of the king to so honor the house of the LORD in Jerusalem,
- Prov 16:7When a man’s ways please the LORD, He makes even the man’s enemies live at peace with him.
- Esth 4:16“Go and assemble all the Jews who can be found in Susa, and fast for me. Do not eat or drink for three days, night or day, and I and my maidens will fast as you do. After that, I will go to the king, even though it is against the law. And if I perish, I perish!”
- Dan 4:35All the peoples of the earth are counted as nothing, and He does as He pleases with the army of heaven and the peoples of the earth. There is no one who can restrain His hand or say to Him, ‘What have You done?’”
- 1 Cor 4:4My conscience is clear, but that does not vindicate me. It is the Lord who judges me.
- Gen 43:14May God Almighty grant you mercy before the man, that he may release your other brother along with Benjamin. As for me, if I am bereaved, I am bereaved.”
- Isa 49:4But I said, “I have labored in vain, I have spent My strength in futility and vanity; yet My vindication is with the LORD, and My reward is with My God.”
- Prov 21:1The king’s heart is a waterway in the hand of the LORD; He directs it where He pleases.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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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 29:26 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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