World English Bible
- A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but accurate weights are his delight.
- When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom.
- The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them.
- Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death.
- The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.
- The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but the unfaithful will be trapped by evil desires.
- When a wicked man dies, hope perishes, and expectation of power comes to nothing.
- A righteous person is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked takes his place.
- With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, but the righteous will be delivered through knowledge.
- When it goes well with the righteous, the city rejoices. When the wicked perish, there is shouting.
- By the blessing of the upright, the city is exalted, but it is overthrown by the mouth of the wicked.
- One who despises his neighbor is void of wisdom, but a man of understanding holds his peace.
- One who brings gossip betrays a confidence, but one who is of a trustworthy spirit is one who keeps a secret.
- Where there is no wise guidance, the nation falls, but in the multitude of counselors there is victory.
- He who is collateral for a stranger will suffer for it, but he who refuses pledges of collateral is secure.
- A gracious woman obtains honor, but violent men obtain riches.
- The merciful man does good to his own soul, but he who is cruel troubles his own flesh.
- Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
- He who is truly righteous gets life. He who pursues evil gets death.
- Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.
- Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
- Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
- The desire of the righteous is only good. The expectation of the wicked is wrath.
- There is one who scatters, and increases yet more. There is one who withholds more than is appropriate, but gains poverty.
- The liberal soul shall be made fat. He who waters shall be watered also himself.
- People curse someone who withholds grain, but blessing will be on the head of him who sells it.
- He who diligently seeks good seeks favor, but he who searches after evil, it shall come to him.
- He who trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous shall flourish as the green leaf.
- He who troubles his own house shall inherit the wind. The foolish shall be servant to the wise of heart.
- The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life. He who is wise wins souls.
- Behold, the righteous shall be repaid in the earth, how much more the wicked and the sinner!
“A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but accurate weights are his delight.”
—Proverbs 11:1, World English Bible
Before coins became common in Israel, merchants weighed silver and goods against small stone weights. Archaeologists have uncovered many such stones, some marked with their value. A dishonest trader could keep two sets: one for buying and another for selling.
Yet Proverbs does not merely call this practice unfair. The Hebrew word translated “abomination,” to‘evah, often describes idolatry and corrupt worship. The startling message is that dishonesty in the marketplace is a spiritual offense. God is worshiped—or denied—through invoices, contracts, wages, prices, and expense reports. The counter where grain is weighed can become either an altar or an idol.
This theme frames the chapter. God delights not only in accurate weights but also in people whose whole lives are “blameless” before him. The balance outside reveals the balance within. Integrity means that the self we present to others and the self known by God are not using different measures.
Proverbs 11 then turns from weighing to scattering, watering, flourishing, and fruit-bearing. Its images form a spiritual ecology: what is tightly hoarded decays, while what is faithfully released multiplies. The generous person is watered by the very mercy he pours out.
Verse 25 calls such a person a “liberal soul.” The Hebrew is nephesh berakhah—literally, “a soul of blessing.” Generosity is therefore more than giving possessions; it is becoming the kind of person through whom God’s goodness can travel.
This is why withholding grain drew public curses. In an ancient subsistence economy, a wealthy landowner could lock his granaries during scarcity, waiting until hunger drove prices higher. Fourth-century pastor Basil the Great later preached that stored bread belongs, in a moral sense, to the hungry. Possession does not erase stewardship.
The chapter’s paradox reaches its fullness in Christ. He did not preserve himself through withholding. He was the grain that fell into the earth, the Bread broken and distributed, the Life scattered for the world. In God’s kingdom, self-protection can become poverty, while self-giving opens into resurrection abundance.
The righteousness of Proverbs 11 is never merely private. The city rises through the blessing of the upright and rejoices when justice prevails. Holy character has public consequences. Our speech can stabilize a neighborhood or quietly poison it; our mercy can make another person’s life more livable.
The “tree of life” in verse 30 reaches back toward Eden and forward toward the renewed creation. God intends the faithful person to become a small outpost of that coming world—offering shade, fruit, and life amid a society trained to grasp.
Today, ask not only, “What do I own?” but, “What is God trying to send through me?”
Suggested cross-references: Deuteronomy 25:13–16;
John 12:24–26; 2 Corinthians 9:6–11; James 5:1–6; Revelation
22:1–2
Suggested hymn: “God, Whose Giving Knows No Ending”
Lord of the true balance, expose every hidden measure by which I favor myself. Make me honest in work, restrained in speech, generous in need, and fruitful in my community. Let your grace pass through me freely, until my life bears the likeness of Christ, who gave himself for the life of the world. Amen.