Proverbs 17:23

The Message

The wicked take bribes under the table; they show nothing but contempt for justice.

Cross References

Exodus 23:8

“Don’t take bribes. Bribes blind perfectly good eyes and twist the speech of good people.

Proverbs 17:8

Receiving a gift is like getting a rare gemstone; any way you look at it, you see beauty refracted.

Proverbs 18:16

A gift gets attention; it buys the attention of eminent people.

Proverbs 21:14

A quietly given gift soothes an irritable person; a heartfelt present cools a hot temper.

Ecclesiastes 7:7

Brutality stupefies even the wise And destroys the strongest heart.

Micah 3:9

The leaders of Jacob and the leaders of Israel are Leaders contemptuous of justice, who twist and distort right living, Leaders who build Zion by killing people, who expand Jerusalem by committing crimes. Judges sell verdicts to the highest bidder, priests mass-market their teaching, prophets preach for high fees, All the while posturing and pretending dependence on God: “We’ve got God on our side. He’ll protect us from disaster.” Because of people like you, Zion will be turned back into farmland, Jerusalem end up as a pile of rubble, and instead of the Temple on the mountain, a few scraggly scrub pines.