2It is the glory of God to conceal a matter,
But the glory of kings is to search out a matter. 3As the heavens for height and the earth for depth,
So the heart of kings is unsearchable. 4Take away the dross from the silver,
And there comes out a vessel for the smith; 5Take away the wicked before the king,
And his throne will be established in righteousness. 6Do not claim honor in the presence of the king,
And do not stand in the place of great men; 7For it is better that it be said to you, “Come up here,”
Than for you to be placed lower in the presence of the prince,
Whom your eyes have seen. 8Do not go out hastily to argue your case;
Otherwise, what will you do in the end,
When your neighbor humiliates you? 9Argue your case with your neighbor,
And do not reveal the secret of another, 10Or he who hears it will reproach you,
And the evil report about you will not pass away. 11Like apples of gold in settings of silver
Is a word spoken in right circumstances. 12Like an earring of gold and an ornament of fine gold
Is a wise reprover to a listening ear. 13Like the cold of snow in the time of harvest
Is a faithful messenger to those who send him,
For he refreshes the soul of his masters. 14Like clouds and wind without rain
Is a man who boasts of his gifts falsely. 15By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded,
And a soft tongue breaks the bone. 16Have you found honey? Eat only what you need,
That you not have it in excess and vomit it. 17Let your foot rarely be in your neighbor’s house,
Or he will become weary of you and hate you. 18Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow
Is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor. 19Like a bad tooth and an unsteady foot
Is confidence in a faithless man in time of trouble. 20Like one who takes off a garment on a cold day, or like vinegar on soda,
Is he who sings songs to a troubled heart. 21If your enemy is hungry, give him food to eat;
And if he is thirsty, give him water to drink; 22For you will heap burning coals on his head,
And the LORD will reward you. 23The north wind brings forth rain,
And a backbiting tongue, an angry countenance. 24It is better to live in a corner of the roof
Than in a house shared with a contentious woman. 25Like cold water to a weary soul,
So is good news from a distant land. 26Like a trampled spring and a polluted well
Is a righteous man who gives way before the wicked. 27It is not good to eat much honey,
Nor is it glory to search out one’s own glory. 28Like a city that is broken into and without walls
Is a man who has no control over his spirit.
New American Standard Bible (©1995)
It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, But the glory of kings is to search out a matter.GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
It is the glory of God to hide things but the glory of kings to investigate them. King James Bible
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter. Douay-Rheims Bible
It is the glory of God to conceal the word, and the glory of kings to search out the speech. Darby Bible Translation
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing; but the glory of kings is to search out a thing. English Revised Version
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Webster's Bible Translation
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honor of kings is to search out a matter. World English Bible
It is the glory of God to conceal a thing, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter. Young's Literal Translation
The honour of God is to hide a thing, And the honour of kings to search out a matter.
Romans 11:33 Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and unfathomable His ways!
Deuteronomy 29:29 "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.
Ezra 6:1 Then King Darius issued a decree, and search was made in the archives, where the treasures were stored in Babylon.
Proverbs 25:3 As the heavens for height and the earth for depth, So the heart of kings is unsearchable.
Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary Verses 2-3 Here is, 1. An instance given of the honour of God: It is his glory to conceal a matter. He needs not search into any thing, for he perfectly knows every thing by a clear and certain view, and nothing can be hidden from him; and yet his own way is in the sea and his path in the great waters. There is an unfathomable depth in his counsels, Rom. 11:33. It is but a little portion that is heard of him. Clouds and darkness are round about him. We see what he does, but we know not the reasons. Some refer it to the sins of men; it is his glory to pardon sin, which is covering it, not remembering it, not mentioning it; his forbearance, which he exercises towards sinners, is likewise his honour, in which he seems to keep silence and take no notice of the matter. 2. A double instance of the honour of kings:-(1.) It is God's glory that he needs not search into a matter, because he knows it without search; but it is the honour of kings, with a close application of mind, and by all the methods of enquiry, to search out the matters that are brought before them, to take pains in examining offenders, that they may discover their designs and bring to light the hidden works of darkness, not to give judgment hastily or till they have weighed things, nor to leave it wholly to others to examine things, but to see with their own eyes. (2.) It is God's glory that he cannot himself be found out by searching, and some of that honour is devolved upon kings, wise kings, that search out matters; their hearts are unsearchable, like the height of heaven or the depth of the earth, which we may guess at, but cannot measure. Princes have their arcana imperii-state secrets, designs which are kept private, and reasons of state, which private persons are not competent judges of, and therefore ought not to pry into. Wise princes, when they search into a matter, have reaches which one would not think of, as Solomon, when he called of a sword to divide the living child with, designing thereby to discover the true mother.
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Conceal Glory Hide Honor Honour Kings Matter Search Searched Secret New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, Calif. All rights reserved. For Permission to Quote Information visit http://www.lockman.org. GOD'S WORD® is a copyrighted work of God's Word to the Nations. Quotations are used by permission. Copyright 1995 by God's Word to the Nations. All rights reserved. Alphabetical: a But conceal glory God is It kings matter of out search the to Bible Browser | |
An Unwalled City
'He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.'--PROVERBS xxv. 28. The text gives us a picture of a state of society when an unwalled city is no place for men to dwell in. In the Europe of today there are still fortified places, but for the most part, battlements are turned into promenades; the gateways are gateless; the sweet flowers blooming where armed feet used to tread; and men live securely without bolts and bars. But their spirits cannot yet …
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy ScriptureGod's Glory in Hiding Sin
A sermon (No. 2838) intended for reading on Lord's Day, July 5th 1903, delivered by C. H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington, on Lord's Day evening, July 15th, 1877. "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing: but the honour of kings is to search out a matter."--Proverbs 25:2. The translation of our text, if it had been more literal, would have run thus, "It is the glory of God to cover a matter, but the honor of kings is to search out a matter." For the sake of variety in language …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs Good News
A sermon (No. 2866) delivered on Thursday Evening, January 6th, 1876, by C.H. Spurgeon at The Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington. "As cold waters to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country."--Proverbs 25:25. This is a text for summertime rather than for a winter's evening. It is only on one of our hottest summer days that we could fully appreciate the illustration here employed; we need to be parched with thirst to be able to feel the value of cold waters to quench our thirst. At the same …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs That a Man Should not be a Curious Searcher of the Sacrament, but a Humble Imitator of Christ, Submitting his Sense to Holy Faith
The Voice of the Beloved Thou must take heed of curious and useless searching into this most profound Sacrament, if thou wilt not be plunged into the abyss of doubt. He that is a searcher of Majesty shall be oppressed by the glory thereof.(1) God is able to do more than man can understand. A pious and humble search after truth is to be allowed, when it is always ready to be taught, and striving to walk after the wholesome opinions of the fathers. 2. Blessed is the simplicity which leaveth alone …
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ Epistle xxxix. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Prov. xxv. 25). But what can be good news to me, so far as concerns the behoof of holy Church, but to hear of the health and safety of your to me most sweet Holiness, who, from your perception of the light of truth, both illuminate the same Church with the word of preaching, and mould it to a better way by the example of your manners? As often, too, as I recall in …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Epistle Xlii. To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria.
To Eulogius, Patriarch of Alexandria. Gregory to Eulogius, &c. We return great thanks to Almighty God, that in the mouth of the heart a sweet savour of charity is experienced, when that which is written is fulfilled, As cold water to a thirsty soul, so is good news from a far country (Prov. xxv. 25). For I had previously been greatly disturbed by a letter from Boniface the Chartularius, my responsalis, who dwells in the royal city, saying that your to me most sweet and pleasant Holiness had suffered …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great Wherefore Christ Undertook a Method of Setting us Free So Painful and Laborious, when a Word from Him, or an Act of his Will, Would Alone
Wherefore Christ undertook a method of setting us free so painful and laborious, when a word from Him, or an act of His will, would alone have sufficed. 19. Then he labours to teach and persuade us that the devil could not and ought not to have claimed for himself any right over man, except by the permission of God, and that, without doing any injustice to the devil, God could have called back His deserter, if He wished to show him mercy, and have rescued him by a word only, as though any one denies …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux "Boast not Thyself of To-Morrow, for Thou Knowest not what a Day May Bring Forth. "
Prov. xxvii. 1.--"Boast not thyself of to-morrow, for thou knowest not what a day may bring forth." There are some peculiar gifts that God hath given to man in his first creation, and endued his nature with, beyond other living creatures, which being rightly ordered and improved towards the right objects, do advance the soul of man to a wonderful height of happiness, that no other sublunary creature is capable of. But by reason of man's fall into sin, these are quite disordered and turned out of …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Love in the Old Covenant.
"A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another."-- John xiii. 34. In connection with the Holy Spirit's work of shedding abroad the love of God in our hearts, the question arises: What is the meaning of Christ's word, "A new commandment I give unto you"? How can He designate this natural injunction, "To love one another," a new commandment? This offers no difficulty to those who entertain the erroneous view that during His ministry on earth Christ established a new and higher religion, …
Abraham Kuyper—The Work of the Holy Spirit The Old Testament Canon from Its Beginning to Its Close.
The first important part of the Old Testament put together as a whole was the Pentateuch, or rather, the five books of Moses and Joshua. This was preceded by smaller documents, which one or more redactors embodied in it. The earliest things committed to writing were probably the ten words proceeding from Moses himself, afterwards enlarged into the ten commandments which exist at present in two recensions (Exod. xx., Deut. v.) It is true that we have the oldest form of the decalogue from the Jehovist …
Samuel Davidson—The Canon of the Bible How the Silent and the Talkative are to be Admonished.
(Admonition 15.) Differently to be admonished are the over-silent, and those who spend time in much speaking. For it ought to be insinuated to the over-silent that while they shun some vices unadvisedly, they are, without its being perceived, implicated in worse. For often from bridling the tongue overmuch they suffer from more grievous loquacity in the heart; so that thoughts seethe the more in the mind from being straitened by the violent guard of indiscreet silence. And for the most part they …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great God's Glory the Chief End of Man's Being
Rom. xi. 36.--"Of him and through him, and to him, are all things, to whom be glory for ever." And 1 Cor. x. 31--"Whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God." All that men have to know, may be comprised under these two heads,--What their end is, and What is the right way to attain to that end? And all that we have to do, is by any means to seek to compass that end. These are the two cardinal points of a man's knowledge and exercise. Quo et qua eundum est,--Whither to go, and what way to go. …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning Christian Behavior
Being the fruits of true Christianity: Teaching husbands, wives, parents, children, masters, servants, etc., how to walk so as to please God. With a word of direction to all backsliders. Advertisement by the Editor This valuable practical treatise, was first published as a pocket volume about the year 1674, soon after the author's final release from his long and dangerous imprisonment. It is evident from the concluding paragraph that he considered his liberty and even his life to be still in a very …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3 Appendix v. Rabbinic Theology and Literature
1. The Traditional Law. - The brief account given in vol. i. p. 100, of the character and authority claimed for the traditional law may here be supplemented by a chronological arrangement of the Halakhoth in the order of their supposed introduction or promulgation. In the first class, or Halakhoth of Moses from Sinai,' tradition enumerates fifty-five, [6370] which may be thus designated: religio-agrarian, four; [6371] ritual, including questions about clean and unclean,' twenty-three; [6372] concerning …
Alfred Edersheim—The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah The History Books
[Illustration: (drop cap T) Assyrian idol-god] Thus little by little the Book of God grew, and the people He had chosen to be its guardians took their place among the nations. A small place it was from one point of view! A narrow strip of land, but unique in its position as one of the highways of the world, on which a few tribes were banded together. All around great empires watched them with eager eyes; the powerful kings of Assyria, Egypt, and Babylonia, the learned Greeks, and, in later times, …
Mildred Duff—The Bible in its Making The Ninth Commandment
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.' Exod 20: 16. THE tongue which at first was made to be an organ of God's praise, is now become an instrument of unrighteousness. This commandment binds the tongue to its good behaviour. God has set two natural fences to keep in the tongue, the teeth and lips; and this commandment is a third fence set about it, that it should not break forth into evil. It has a prohibitory and a mandatory part: the first is set down in plain words, the other …
Thomas Watson—The Ten Commandments Proverbs
Many specimens of the so-called Wisdom Literature are preserved for us in the book of Proverbs, for its contents are by no means confined to what we call proverbs. The first nine chapters constitute a continuous discourse, almost in the manner of a sermon; and of the last two chapters, ch. xxx. is largely made up of enigmas, and xxxi. is in part a description of the good housewife. All, however, are rightly subsumed under the idea of wisdom, which to the Hebrew had always moral relations. The Hebrew …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament |
