Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 11:20 - Meaning and Application
Understand how this verse speaks to what you're facing and how to apply it today
Translation: World English Bible — Catholic Edition
" Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight. "
Proverbs 11:20
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
18 Wicked people earn deceitful wages, but one who sows righteousness reaps a sure reward.
19 He who is truly righteous gets life. He who pursues evil gets death.
20 Those who are perverse in heart are an abomination to the LORD, but those whose ways are blameless are his delight.
21 Most certainly, the evil man will not be unpunished, but the offspring of the righteous will be delivered.
22 Like a gold ring in a pig’s snout, is a beautiful woman who lacks discretion.
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Create Free AccountBible Guided Commentary
It matters for us to know what God hates and what he loves, so we can live in a way that pleases him. If we know this, we can avoid his anger and seek his favor.
Here we are told that nothing is more offensive to God than hypocrisy and double-dealing. The word translated “frowardness” points to people who pretend to do right while meaning harm, and who walk crooked paths to avoid being found out. Those with a crooked heart act against what is good while wearing the mask of goodness. Such people are, more than other sinners, an abomination to the Lord (Isaiah 65:5).
We are also told that nothing pleases God more than sincerity and plain dealing. Those who are upright in their way, who aim at and act with integrity, and who live in the world with simplicity and godly sincerity, not with worldly cleverness, are the ones God delights in. He even speaks well of such people, as he did when he said, “Have you considered my servant Job?” He wants us to admire them too: “Behold, an Israelite indeed!”
From This Chapter
Proverbs 11:1
"A false balance is an abomination to the LORD, but accurate weights are his delight."
Proverbs 11:2
"When pride comes, then comes shame, but with humility comes wisdom."
Proverbs 11:3
"The integrity of the upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of the treacherous shall destroy them."
Proverbs 11:4
"Riches don’t profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death."
Proverbs 11:5
"The righteousness of the blameless will direct his way, but the wicked shall fall by his own wickedness."
Proverbs 11:6
"The righteousness of the upright shall deliver them, but the unfaithful will be trapped by evil desires."
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