Proverbs 17:23
A wicked man takes a gift out of the bosom to pervert the ways of judgment.
Updated King James Version
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 does good like a medicine: but a broken spirit dries the bones.
24Wisdom is before him that has understanding; but the eyes of a fool are in the ends of the earth.
Cross References
Deuteronomy 16:19You shall not shift judgment; you shall not respect persons, neither take a gift: for a gift does blind the eyes of the wise, and pervert the words of the righteous.
1 Samuel 12:3Behold, here 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 received any bribe to blind mine eyes therewith? and I will restore it you.
Proverbs 18:16A man's gift makes room for him, and brings him before great men.
Isaiah 1:23Your princes are rebellious, and companions of thieves: every one loves gifts, and follows after rewards: they judge not the fatherless, neither does the cause of the widow come unto them.
Ezekiel 22:12In you have they taken gifts to shed blood; you have taken interest and increase, and you have greedily gained of your neighbours by extortion, and have forgotten me, says the Lord GOD.
Micah 3:9Hear this, I pray you, all of you heads of the house of Jacob, and princes of the house of Israel, that detest 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 →