The righteous considereth the cause of the poor: but the wicked regardeth not to know it.
Parallel translations
- WEB The righteous care about justice for the poor. The wicked aren’t concerned about knowledge.
- BSB The righteous consider the cause of the poor, but the wicked have no regard for such concerns.
- NKJV The righteous considers the cause of the poor, But the wicked does not understand such knowledge.
- NASB The righteous is concerned for the rights of the poor; The wicked does not understand such concern.
- NLT The godly care about the rights of the poor; the wicked don’t care at all.
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
The righteous care about justice for the poor, while the wicked disregard it. It marks concern for the vulnerable as a mark of true righteousness.
Overview
The proverb distinguishes the righteous, who attend to justice for the poor, from the wicked, who are indifferent to such knowledge and care. Godly character expresses itself in compassion and advocacy for the needy. This reflects the heart of God for the poor, embodied by Christ, who proclaimed good news to them (Luke 4:18).
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 14
- Job 29:16I was a father to the poor: and the cause which I knew not I searched out.
- Ps 41:1Blessed is he that considereth the poor: the LORD will deliver him in time of trouble.
- Prov 21:13Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard.
- Prov 31:8–9Open thy mouth for the dumb in the cause of all such as are appointed to destruction.
- Gal 6:1Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted.
- Jer 5:28They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
- Jer 22:15–17Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, and then it was well with him?
- 1 Sam 25:9–11And when David’s young men came, they spake to Nabal according to all those words in the name of David, and ceased.
- Ezek 22:29–31The people of the land have used oppression, and exercised robbery, and have vexed the poor and needy: yea, they have oppressed the stranger wrongfully.
- Job 31:21If I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless, when I saw my help in the gate:
- Job 31:13If I did despise the cause of my manservant or of my maidservant, when they contended with me;
- Ps 31:7I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities;
- Ezek 22:7In thee have they set light by father and mother: in the midst of thee have they dealt by oppression with the stranger: in thee have they vexed the fatherless and the widow.
- Mic 3:1–4And I said, Hear, I pray you, O heads of Jacob, and ye princes of the house of Israel; Is it not for you to know judgment?
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 29:7 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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