Proverbs 1:3 (NLT) Their purpose is to teach people to live disciplined and successful lives, to help them do what is right, just, and fair.
1 Wisdom Teaches
Proverbs 16 :23 Intelligent people think before they speak; what they say is then more persuasive.
2 Wisdom Prospers not by giving or receiving bribe
Proverbs 17: 8 A present is a precious stone in the eyes of its possessor; Wherever he turns, he prospers.
The precious stone is a charm that makes people treat others favorably. The present is a bribe
Proverbs 15:27
[27]The greedy bring ruin to their households,
But the one who hates bribes will live.
On greedy for gain
Proverbs 1:19
[19]Such are the paths of all who go after ill-gotten gain;
It takes away the life of those who get it.
There are two Hebrew Words for bribe Proverbs 21:14
[14]A gift given in secret soothes anger,
And a bribe concealed in the cloak pacifies great wrath.
Has both words . This one mattan / mattanah, often is simply a “gift
“Proverbs 18:16
[16]A gift opens the way
And ushers the giver into the presence of the great.
Proverbs 19:6
[6]Many curry favorably with a ruler,
And everyone is the friend of one who gives gifts.
But in the context of dishonest profit it clearly represents a bribe. The other word shochad
Proverbs 17:8,23
[8]A bribe is seen as a charm by the one who gives it;
They think success will come at every turn.
[23]The wicked accept bribes in secret
To pervert the course of justice.
Is never a gift without string attached. God hates bribes because they subvert justice Proverbs 17:23
[23]The wicked accept bribes in secret
To pervert the course of justice.
Proverbs 18:5
[5]It is not good to be partial to the wicked
And so deprive the innocent of justice.
Deuteronomy 16:19
[19]Do not pervert justice or show partiality. Do not accept a bribe, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and twists the words of the innocent.
Psalm 15:5
[5]who lends money to the poor without interest;
Who does not accept a bribe against the innocent.
Whoever does these things
Will never be shaken.
Ecclesiastes 7:7
[7]Extortion turns a wise person into a fool,
And a bribe corrupts the heart.
Isaiah 5:23
[23]who acquit the guilty for a bribe,
But deny justice to the innocent.
Therefore the person who hates bribes agrees with God and the one who totally agrees with God- that is, who has the mind of Christ – will live
Romans 7:16
[16]And if I do what I do not want to do, I agree that the law is good.
1 Corinthians 2:16
[16]for,
“Who has known the mind of the Lord
So as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ.
1 Timothy 6:13
[13]In the sight of God, who gives life to everything, and of Christ Jesus, who while testifying before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I charge you
The briber only apparently prospers in this life; ultimately God who abhors magic and hates bribes will condemn him.
3 Wisdom gives a prudent wife
A reasonably prudent person is an individual who uses good judgment or common sense in handling practical matters
Proverbs 19:14
[14]Houses and wealth are inherited from parents,
but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
Many things are seen as arising from human activity but a prudent wife ( unlike a contentious wife Proverbs 19:13 (NLT) A foolish child is a calamity to a father; a quarrelsome wife is as annoying as constant dripping.)
Is truly a gift from God
Proverbs 18:22 (NLT) The man who finds a wife finds a treasure, and he receives favour from the LORD .
Proverbs 31:10 (MSG) A good woman is hard to find, and worth far more than diamonds.
(4) Wisdom will cause Kings to favour you
Proverbs 21: 1 the LORD controls the mind of a king as easily as he directs the course of a stream.
God is sovereign even over a king -and not just Israel’s King
1 Kings 11:23
[23]And God raised up against Solomon another adversary, Rezon son of Eliada, who had fled from his master, Hadadezer king of Zobah.
Ezra 6:22
[22]For seven days they celebrated with joy the Festival of Unleavened Bread, because the Lord had filled them with joy by changing the attitude of the king of Assyria so that he assisted them in the work on the house of God, the God of Israel.
Isaiah 44:28
[28]who says of Cyrus, ‘He is my shepherd
And will accomplish all that I please;
He will say of Jerusalem, “Let it be rebuilt,”
And of the temple, “Let its foundations be laid.” ’
Jeremiah 25:9
[9]I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,” declares the Lord, “and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin.
Acts 4:27-28 (NLT) “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed.
But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.
5 Wisdom Gives you a discerning heart to undo the works of the wicked
Proverbs 21:12 (MSG) A God-loyal person will see right through the wicked and undo the evil they’ve planned.
Proverbs 13:6 (NLT) Godliness guards the path of the blameless, but the evil are misled by sin.
Overthrows implies being frustrated or subverted
Exodus 23:8 (NLT) “Take no bribes, for a bribe makes you ignore something that you clearly see. A bribe makes even a righteous person twist the truth.
Deuteronomy 16:19 (NLT) You must never twist justice or show partiality. Never accept a bribe, for bribes blind the eyes of the wise and corrupt the decisions of the godly.
Job 12:19 (NLT) He leads priests away, stripped of status; he overthrows those with long years in power.
And brought to ruin
Proverbs 19:3 (NLT) People ruin their lives by their own foolishness and then are angry at the LORD .
Proverbs 21:12 (NLT)
The Righteous One knows what is going on in the homes of the wicked; he will bring disaster on them.
Proverbs 22:12 (NLT) The LORD preserves those with knowledge, but he ruins the plans of the treacherous.
(6) Wisdom gives understanding shielding us from the assembly of the dead.
Proverbs 21: 16
A man who wanders from the way of understanding Will rest in the assembly of the dead.
Wanders, compare stray in Proverbs 7:25-27
[25]Do not let your heart turn to her ways
Or stray into her paths.
[26]Many are the victims she has brought down;
Her slain are a mighty throng.
[27]Her house is a highway to the grave,
Leading down to the chambers of death.
On the dead
Proverbs 2:16-20
[16]Wisdom will save you also from the adulterous woman,
From the wayward woman with her seductive words,
[17]who has left the partner of her youth
And ignored the covenant she made before God.
[18]Surely her house leads down to death
And her paths to the spirits of the dead.
[19]None who go to her return
Or attain the paths of life.
[20]Thus you will walk in the ways of the good
And keep to the paths of the righteous.
Wisdom is morally guided by justice ( agreement with God’s directive, judgement ( restoration of what is right), and equity ( what is straight, right and fair).