1The wicked flee when no one is pursuing,
         But the righteous are bold as a lion.

2By the transgression of a land many are its princes,
         But by a man of understanding and knowledge, so it endures.

3A poor man who oppresses the lowly
         Is like a driving rain which leaves no food.

4Those who forsake the law praise the wicked,
         But those who keep the law strive with them.

5Evil men do not understand justice,
         But those who seek the LORD understand all things.

6Better is the poor who walks in his integrity
         Than he who is crooked though he be rich.

7He who keeps the law is a discerning son,
         But he who is a companion of gluttons humiliates his father.

8He who increases his wealth by interest and usury
         Gathers it for him who is gracious to the poor.

9He who turns away his ear from listening to the law,
         Even his prayer is an abomination.

10He who leads the upright astray in an evil way
         Will himself fall into his own pit,
         But the blameless will inherit good.

11The rich man is wise in his own eyes,
         But the poor who has understanding sees through him.

12When the righteous triumph, there is great glory,
         But when the wicked rise, men hide themselves.

13He who conceals his transgressions will not prosper,
         But he who confesses and forsakes them will find compassion.

14How blessed is the man who fears always,
         But he who hardens his heart will fall into calamity.

15Like a roaring lion and a rushing bear
         Is a wicked ruler over a poor people.

16A leader who is a great oppressor lacks understanding,
         But he who hates unjust gain will prolong his days.

17A man who is laden with the guilt of human blood
         Will be a fugitive until death; let no one support him.

18He who walks blamelessly will be delivered,
         But he who is crooked will fall all at once.

19He who tills his land will have plenty of food,
         But he who follows empty pursuits will have poverty in plenty.

20A faithful man will abound with blessings,
         But he who makes haste to be rich will not go unpunished.

21To show partiality is not good,
         Because for a piece of bread a man will transgress.

22A man with an evil eye hastens after wealth
         And does not know that want will come upon him.

23He who rebukes a man will afterward find more favor
         Than he who flatters with the tongue.

24He who robs his father or his mother
         And says, “It is not a transgression,”
         Is the companion of a man who destroys.

25An arrogant man stirs up strife,
         But he who trusts in the LORD will prosper.

26He who trusts in his own heart is a fool,
         But he who walks wisely will be delivered.

27He who gives to the poor will never want,
         But he who shuts his eyes will have many curses.

28When the wicked rise, men hide themselves;
         But when they perish, the righteous increase.

Parallel Verses

New American Standard Bible (©1995)
The wicked flee when no one is pursuing, But the righteous are bold as a lion.

GOD'S WORD® Translation (©1995)
A wicked person flees when no one is chasing him, but righteous people are as bold as lions.

King James Bible
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Douay-Rheims Bible
The wicked man fleeth, when no man pursueth: but the just, bold as a lion, shall be without dread.

Darby Bible Translation
The wicked flee when no man pursueth; but the righteous are bold as a lion.

English Revised Version
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

Webster's Bible Translation
The wicked flee when no man pursueth: but the righteous are bold as a lion.

World English Bible
The wicked flee when no one pursues; but the righteous are as bold as a lion.

Young's Literal Translation
The wicked have fled and there is no pursuer. And the righteous as a young lion is confident.

Cross References

Leviticus 26:17 'I will set My face against you so that you will be struck down before your enemies; and those who hate you will rule over you, and you will flee when no one is pursuing you.

Leviticus 26:36 'As for those of you who may be left, I will also bring weakness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies. And the sound of a driven leaf will chase them, and even when no one is pursuing they will flee as though from the sword, and they will fall.

2 Kings 7:7 Therefore they arose and fled in the twilight, and left their tents and their horses and their donkeys, even the camp just as it was, and fled for their life.

Nehemiah 6:11 But I said, "Should a man like me flee? And could one such as I go into the temple to save his life? I will not go in."

Psalm 53:5 There they were in great fear where no fear had been; For God scattered the bones of him who encamped against you; You put them to shame, because God had rejected them.

Proverbs 27:27 And there will be goats' milk enough for your food, For the food of your household, And sustenance for your maidens.

Isaiah 30:17 One thousand will flee at the threat of one man; You will flee at the threat of five, Until you are left as a flag on a mountain top And as a signal on a hill.

Commentary

Matthew Henry's Whole Bible Commentary

Chapter 28

Verse 1

See here, 1. What continual frights those are subject to that go on in wicked ways. Guilt in the conscience makes men a terror to themselves, so that they are ready to flee when none pursues; like one that absconds for debt, who thinks every one he meets a bailiff. Though they pretend to be easy, there are secret fears which haunt them wherever they go, so that they fear where no present or imminent danger is, Ps. 53:5. Those that have made God their enemy, and know it, cannot but see the whole creation at war with them, and therefore can have no true enjoyment of themselves, no confidence, no courage, but a fearful looking for of judgment. Sin makes men cowards.

Degeneres animos timor arguit-

Fear argues a degenerate soul.-Virgil

Quos diri conscia facti mens habet attonitos-

The consciousness of atrocious crimes astonishes

and confounds.-Juvenal

If they flee when none pursues, what will they do when they shall see God himself pursuing them with his armies? Job 20:24; 15:24. See Deu. 28:25; Lev. 26:36. 2. What a holy security and serenity of mind those enjoy who keep conscience void of offence and so keep themselves in the love of God: The righteous are bold as a lion, as a young lion; in the greatest dangers they have a God of almighty power to trust to. Therefore will not we fear though the earth be removed. Whatever difficulties they meet with in the way of their duty, they are not daunted by them. None of those things move me.

Hie murus aheneus esto, nil conscire sibi-

Be this thy brazen bulwark of defence,

Still to preserve thy conscious innocence.-Hon.

Links

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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.

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Alphabetical: a are as bold but flee flees is lion man no one pursues pursuing righteous The though when wicked

Bible Browser

The Right Kind of Fear
A Sermon (No. 2971) published on Thursday, January 18th, 1906, delivered by C.H. Spurgeon at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, Newington on Thursday evening, September 2nd, 1876. "Happy is the man that feareth alway."--Proverbs 28:14. But did not John say that "fear hath torment?" Then how can he be happy who hath fear, and especially he who hath it always. Did not John also say that "perfect love casteth out fear?" How is it then that he is happy in whom love is not made perfect, if so be that the fear …
C.H. Spurgeon—Sermons on Proverbs

Confession
"He that covereth his sins shall not prosper: but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy." Proverbs 28:13. The conditions of obtaining mercy of God are simple and just and reasonable. The Lord does not require us to do some grievous thing in order that we may have the forgiveness of sin. We need not make long and wearisome pilgrimages, or perform painful penances, to commend our souls to the God of heaven or to expiate our transgression; but he that confesseth and forsaketh his sin …
Ellen Gould White—Steps to Christ

He Does Battle for the Faith; He Restores Peace among those who were at Variance; He Takes in Hand to Build a Stone Church.
57. (32). There was a certain clerk in Lismore whose life, as it is said, was good, but his faith not so. He was a man of some knowledge in his own eyes, and dared to say that in the Eucharist there is only a sacrament and not the fact[718] of the sacrament, that is, mere sanctification and not the truth of the Body. On this subject he was often addressed by Malachy in secret, but in vain; and finally he was called before a public assembly, the laity however being excluded, in order that if it were …
H. J. Lawlor—St. Bernard of Clairvaux's Life of St. Malachy of Armagh

"If we Confess Our Sins, He is Faithful and Just to Forgive us Our Sins",
1 John i. 9.--"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins", &c. The current of sin dries not up, but runs constantly while we are in this life. It is true, it is much diminished in a believer, and it runs not in such an universal flood over the whole man as it is in the unbeliever. Yet there is a living spring of sin within the godly, which is never ceasing to drop out pollution and defilement, either upon their whole persons, or, at least, to intermingle it with their …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Heathen Plots
[This chapter is based on Nehemiah 6.] Sanballat and his confederates dared not make open war upon the Jews; but with increasing malice they continued their secret efforts to discourage, perplex, and injure them. The wall about Jerusalem was rapidly approaching completion. When it should be finished and its gates set up, these enemies of Israel could not hope to force an entrance into the city. They were the more eager, therefore, to stop the work without further delay. At last they devised a plan …
Ellen Gould White—The Story of Prophets and Kings

"When Solomon was Old. "
"It came to pass when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other Gods." 1 KINGS xi. 4. Who could have predicted that this would come to pass? And yet it is often so, for it is still true that NO AMOUNT OF KNOWLEDGE WILL SAVE FROM BACKSLIDING THOSE WHO REFUSE TO LISTEN TO GOD. We learn from verse 10 that God had taken pains to save Solomon from idolatry, (see 1 Kings vi. 12, and xi. 6). But what good is it for even God to try to save a man who will have his own way? And …
Thomas Champness—Broken Bread

Letter xxiv (Circa A. D. 1126) to Oger, Regular Canon
To Oger, Regular Canon [34] Bernard blames him for his resignation of his pastoral charge, although made from the love of a calm and pious life. None the less, he instructs him how, after becoming a private person, he ought to live in community. To Brother Oger, the Canon, Brother Bernard, monk but sinner, wishes that he may walk worthily of God even to the end, and embraces him with the fullest affection. 1. If I seem to have been too slow in replying to your letter, ascribe it to my not having …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

A Faithful Witness
[This chapter is based on the Epistles of John.] After the ascension of Christ, John stands forth as a faithful, earnest laborer for the Master. With the other disciples he enjoyed the outpouring of the Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, and with fresh zeal and power he continued to speak to the people the words of life, seeking to lead their thoughts to the Unseen. He was a powerful preacher, fervent, and deeply in earnest. In beautiful language and with a musical voice he told of the words and works …
Ellen Gould White—The Acts of the Apostles

Epistle xxv. To Gregoria.
To Gregoria. Gregory to Gregoria, Lady of the Bed-chamber (cubiculariæ) to Augusta. I have received the longed for letters of your Sweetness, in which you have been at pains all through to accuse yourself of a multitude of sins: but I know that you fervently love the Almighty Lord, and I trust in His mercy that the sentence which was pronounced with regard to a certain holy woman proceeds from the mouth of the Truth with regard to you: Her sins, which are many, are forgiven her, for she loved …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

"And the Life. " How Christ is the Life.
This, as the former, being spoken indefinitely, may be universally taken, as relating both to such as are yet in the state of nature, and to such as are in the state of grace, and so may be considered in reference to both, and ground three points of truth, both in reference to the one, and in reference to the other; to wit, 1. That our case is such as we stand in need of his help, as being the Life. 2. That no other way but by him, can we get that supply of life, which we stand in need of, for he …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

"And There is None that Calleth Upon Thy Name, that Stirreth up Himself to Take Hold on Thee,"
Isaiah lxiv. 7.--"And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold on thee," &c. They go on in the confession of their sins. Many a man hath soon done with that a general notion of sin is the highest advancement in repentance that many attain to. You may see here sin and judgment mixed in thorough other(315) in their complaint. They do not so fix their eyes upon their desolate estate of captivity, as to forget their provocations. Many a man would spend more affection, …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

God's Law Immutable
The temple of God was opened in heaven, and there was seen in His temple the ark of His testament." Revelation 11:19. The ark of God's testament is in the holy of holies, the second apartment of the sanctuary. In the ministration of the earthly tabernacle, which served "unto the example and shadow of heavenly things," this apartment was opened only upon the great Day of Atonement for the cleansing of the sanctuary. Therefore the announcement that the temple of God was opened in heaven and the ark …
Ellen Gould White—The Great Controversy

How to be Admonished are those who Give Away what is their Own, and those who Seize what Belongs to Others.
(Admonition 21.) Differently to be admonished are those who already give compassionately of their own, and those who still would fain seize even what belongs to others. For those who already give compassionately of their own are to be admonished not to lift themselves up in swelling thought above those to whom they impart earthly things; not to esteem themselves better than others because they see others to be supported by them. For the Lord of an earthly household, in distributing the ranks and …
Leo the Great—Writings of Leo the Great

The Authority and Utility of the Scriptures
2 Tim. iii. 16.--"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness." We told you that there was nothing more necessary to know than what our end is, and what the way is that leads to that end. We see the most part of men walking at random,--running an uncertain race,--because they do not propose unto themselves a certain scope to aim at, and whither to direct their whole course. According to men's particular …
Hugh Binning—The Works of the Rev. Hugh Binning

Adoption
'As many as received him to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name.' John 1:12. Having spoken of the great points of faith and justification, we come next to adoption. The qualification of the persons is, As many as received him.' Receiving is put for believing, as is clear by the last words, to them that believe in his name.' The specification of the privilege is, to them gave he power to become the sons of God.' The Greek word for power, exousia, signifies …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

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