Many seek the ruler’s favour; but every man’s judgment cometh from the LORD.
Parallel translations
- WEB Many seek the ruler’s favor, but a man’s justice comes from Yahweh.
- BSB Many seek the ruler’s favor, but a man receives justice 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 will intreat the favour of the prince: and every man is a friend to him that giveth gifts.
- Ps 20:9Save, LORD: let the king hear us when we call.
- Prov 19:21There are many devices in a man’s heart; nevertheless the counsel of the LORD, that shall stand.
- Ps 62:12Also unto thee, O Lord, belongeth mercy: for thou renderest to every man according to his work.
- Isa 46:9–11Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me,
- Neh 1:11O LORD, I beseech thee, let now thine ear be attentive to the prayer of thy servant, and to the prayer of thy servants, who desire to fear thy name: and prosper, I pray thee, thy servant this day, and grant him mercy in the sight of this man. For I was the king’s cupbearer.
- Ezra 7:27–28Blessed be the LORD God of our fathers, which hath put such a thing as this in the king’s heart, to beautify the house of the LORD which is in Jerusalem:
- Prov 16:7When a man’s ways please the LORD, he maketh even his enemies to be at peace with him.
- Esth 4:16Go, gather together all the Jews that are present in Shushan, and fast ye for me, and neither eat nor drink three days, night or day: I also and my maidens will fast likewise; and so will I go in unto the king, which is not according to the law: and if I perish, I perish.
- Dan 4:35And all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing: and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth: and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou?
- 1 Cor 4:4For I know nothing by myself; yet am I not hereby justified: but he that judgeth me is the Lord.
- Gen 43:14And God Almighty give you mercy before the man, that he may send away your other brother, and Benjamin. If I be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved.
- Isa 49:4Then I said, I have laboured in vain, I have spent my strength for nought, and in vain: yet surely my judgment is with the LORD, and my work with my God.
- Prov 21:1The king’s heart is in the hand of the LORD, as the rivers of water: he turneth it whithersoever he will.
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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 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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