Key Verse Spotlight
Proverbs 21:12 - 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
" The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin. "
Proverbs 21:12
Verse in Context
Understanding the surrounding verses prevents misinterpretation:
10 The soul of the wicked desires evil; his neighbor finds no mercy in his eyes.
11 When the mocker is punished, the simple gains wisdom. When the wise is instructed, he receives knowledge.
12 The Righteous One considers the house of the wicked, and brings the wicked to ruin.
13 Whoever stops his ears at the cry of the poor, he will also cry out, but shall not be heard.
14 A gift in secret pacifies anger, and a bribe in the cloak, strong wrath.
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This verse shows why good people, once they understand things rightly, will not envy the success of evil people. When they look at the house of the wicked, full perhaps of the comforts of this life, they may feel tempted to envy them. But when they think more wisely, and look at things with faith, they see God bringing the wicked down because of their evil. They also see that a curse rests on their house, and that it will surely ruin them in time. So they have more reason to despise such people, or feel pity for them, than to fear or envy them.
Some explain the verse another way. The righteous man here is the judge or magistrate, the one given authority to carry out justice and keep public peace. He searches the house of the wicked for weapons or stolen goods, and he carefully investigates their family and those around them. He does this so he can use his authority to overthrow the wicked for their evil and stop them from doing more harm. In this way, he burns out the nests where birds of prey or unclean birds are hiding.
From This Chapter
Proverbs 21:1
"The king’s heart is in the LORD’s hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires."
Proverbs 21:2
"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts."
Proverbs 21:3
"To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice."
Proverbs 21:4
"A high look and a proud heart, the lamp of the wicked, is sin."
Proverbs 21:5
"The plans of the diligent surely lead to profit; and everyone who is hasty surely rushes to poverty."
Proverbs 21:6
"Getting treasures by a lying tongue is a fleeting vapor for those who seek death."
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