ORGANISATION OF PROVERBS TEXTS ON FRIENDS/NEIGHBOURS
Simon van Bruchem
WARNING AGAINST WICKEDNESS TOWARDS NEIGHBOURS
(28) Do not say to your neighbor, “Go, and come again, tomorrow I will give it”–when you have it with you.
(29) Do not plan evil against your neighbor, who dwells trustingly beside you.
(30) Do not contend with a man for no reason, when he has done you no harm.
(31) Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,
(32) for the devious person is an abomination to the LORD, but the upright are in his confidence.
(27) Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned?
(28) Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?
(29) So is he who goes in to his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished.
11(9) With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.
11(12) Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent.
RECONCILIATION BETWEEN NEIGHBOURS
(1) My son, if you have put up security for your neighbor, have given your pledge for a stranger,
(2) if you are snared in the words of your mouth, caught in the words of your mouth,
(3) then do this, my son, and save yourself, for you have come into the hand of your neighbor: go, hasten, and plead urgently with your neighbor.
(7) When a man’s ways please the LORD, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.
(9) Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret,
(10) lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.
26(17) Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
ENCOURAGEMENT FOR LOVE TOWARDS NEIGHBOURS
(12) Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.
(9) Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
WARNING AGAINST WICKEDNESS TOWARDS NEIGHBOURS
(28) A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.
(29) A man of violence entices his neighbor and leads him in a way that is not good.
(9) Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.
17(18) One who lacks sense gives a pledge and puts up security in the presence of his neighbor.
(28) Be not a witness against your neighbor without cause, and do not deceive with your lips.
(29) Do not say, “I will do to him as he has done to me; I will pay the man back for what he has done.”
25(17) Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor’s house, lest he have his fill of you and hate you.
(18) A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow.
26(18) Like a madman who throws firebrands, arrows, and death
(19) is the man who deceives his neighbor and says, “I am only joking!”
(14) Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice, rising early in the morning, will be counted as cursing.
(21) To show partiality is not good, but for a piece of bread a man will do wrong.
(5) A man who flatters his neighbor spreads a net for his feet.
(4) It is not for kings, O Lemuel, it is not for kings to drink wine, or for rulers to take strong drink,
(5) lest they drink and forget what has been decreed and pervert the rights of all the afflicted.
WISE INFLUENCING SOCIETY
11(10) When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices, and when the wicked perish there are shouts of gladness.
11(11) By the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is overthrown.
(2) When the righteous increase, the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule, the people groan.
29(8) Scoffers set a city aflame, but the wise turn away wrath.
(27) An unjust man is an abomination to the righteous, but one whose way is straight is an abomination to the wicked.
EVANGELISM TOWARDS NEIGHBOURS
(26) One who is righteous is a guide to his neighbor, but the way of the wicked leads them astray.
WITH PARTICULAR REGARD TO THE POOR
(20) The poor is disliked even by his neighbor, but the rich has many friends.
(21) Whoever despises his neighbor is a sinner, but blessed is he who is generous to the poor.
(31) Whoever oppresses a poor man insults his Maker, but he who is generous to the needy honors him.
(5) Whoever mocks the poor insults his Maker; he who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished.
(6) Many seek the favor of a generous man, and everyone is a friend to a man who gives gifts.
(7) All a poor man’s brothers hate him; how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but does not have them.
(17) Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the LORD, and he will repay him for his deed.
(13) Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.
22(22) Do not rob the poor, because he is poor, or crush the afflicted at the gate,
(23) for the LORD will plead their cause and rob of life those who rob them.
(10) Do not move an ancient landmark or enter the fields of the fatherless,
(11) for their Redeemer is strong; he will plead their cause against you.
(27) Whoever gives to the poor will not want, but he who hides his eyes will get many a curse.
29(7) A righteous man knows the rights of the poor; a wicked man does not understand such knowledge.
(8) Open your mouth for the mute, for the rights of all who are destitute.
(9) Open your mouth, judge righteously, defend the rights of the poor and needy.
FRIENDSHIP
17(17) A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
(24) A man of many companions may come to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
(4) Wealth brings many new friends, but a poor man is deserted by his friend.
(6) Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.
(9) Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.
(10) Do not forsake your friend and your father’s friend, and do not go to your brother’s house in the day of your calamity. Better is a neighbor who is near than a brother who is far away.
(17) Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
WARNING AGAINST EVIL ASSOCIATIONS
22(24) Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man,
(25) lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.
(20) Be not among drunkards or among gluttonous eaters of meat,
(21) for the drunkard and the glutton will come to poverty, and slumber will clothe them with rags.
(1) Be not envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them,
(2) for their hearts devise violence, and their lips talk of trouble.
25(19) Trusting in a treacherous man in time of trouble is like a bad tooth or a foot that slips.
(7) The one who keeps the law is a son with understanding, but a companion of gluttons shames his father.
GENERAL ATTITUDE TO OTHERS (TEXT)
(15) Lie not in wait as a wicked man against the dwelling of the righteous; do no violence to his home;
(16) for the righteous falls seven times and rises again, but the wicked stumble in times of calamity.
(17) Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
(18) lest the LORD see it and be displeased, and turn away his anger from him.
(19) Fret not yourself because of evildoers, and be not envious of the wicked,
(20) for the evil man has no future; the lamp of the wicked will be put out.
(21) My son, fear the LORD and the king, and do not join with those who do otherwise,
(22) for disaster from them will rise suddenly, and who knows the ruin that will come from them both?
(23) These also are sayings of the wise. Partiality in judging is not good.
(24) Whoever says to the wicked, “You are in the right,” will be cursed by peoples, abhorred by nations,
(25) but those who rebuke the wicked will have delight, and a good blessing will come upon them.
(21) If your enemy is hungry, give him bread to eat, and if he is thirsty, give him water to drink,
(22) for you will heap burning coals on his head, and the LORD will reward you.