Proverbs 17:23
The wicked man taketh gifts out of the bosom, that he may pervert the paths of judgment.
Douay-Rheims 1899
In The King James Version
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
In Context
22A joyful mind maketh age flourishing: a sorrowful spirit drieth up the bones.
24Wisdom shineth in the face of the wise: the eyes of fools are in the ends of the earth.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 16:19And not go aside to either part. Thou shalt not accept person nor gifts: for gifts blind the eyes of the wise, and change the words of the just.
1 Samuel 12:3Speak of me before the Lord, and before his anointed, whether I have taken any man's ox, or ass: If I have wronged any man, if I have oppressed any man, if I have taken a bribe at any man's hand: and I will despise it this day, and will restore it to you.
Proverbs 18:16A man's gift enlargeth his may, and maketh him room before princes.
Isaiah 1:23Thy princes are faithless, companions of thieves: they all love bribes, the run after rewards. They judge not for the fatherless: and the widow's cometh not in to them.
Ezekiel 22:12They have taken gifts in thee to shed blood: thou hast taken usury and increase, and hast covetously oppressed thy neighbours: and then hast forgotten me, saith the Lord God.
Micah 3:9Hear this, ye princes of the house of Jacob, and ye judges of the house of Israel: you that abhor judgment, and pervert all that is right.
Matthew Henry on Proverbs 17:23
22 A merry heart doeth good like a medicine: but a broken spirit drieth the bones. Note, 1. It is healthful to be cheerful. The Lord is for the body, and has provided for it, not only meat, but medicine, and has here told us that the best medicine is a merry heart, not a heart addicted to vain, carnal, sensual mirth; Solomon himself said of that mirth, It is not medicine, but madness; it is not food, but poison; what doth it? But he means a heart rejoicing in God, and serving him with gladness, and then taking the… Read the whole commentary →