Proverbs 17:23
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom, to pervert the ways of judgment.
Revised Version 1895
In The King James Version
A wicked man taketh a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
In Context
22A merry heart is a good medicine: but a broken spirit drieth up the bones.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 16:19Thou shalt not wrest judgment; thou shalt not respect persons: neither shalt thou take a gift; for a gift doth blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
1 Samuel 12:3Here I am: witness against me before the LORD, and before his anointed: whose ox have I taken? or whose ass have I taken? or whom have I defrauded? whom have I oppressed? or of whose hand have I taken a ransom to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
Proverbs 18:16A man’s gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him before great men.
Isaiah 1:23Thy princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves; every one loveth gifts, and followeth after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither doth the cause of the widow come unto them.
Ezekiel 22:12In thee have they taken bribes to shed blood; thou hast taken usury and increase, and thou hast greedily gained of thy neighbours by oppression, and hast forgotten me, saith the Lord GOD.
Micah 3:9Hear this, I pray you, ye heads of the house of Jacob, and rulers of the house of Israel, that abhor judgment, and pervert all equity.
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 →