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Read the Bible

Easy-to-Read Version

Proverbs 3:31

Don't envy those who are violent. Never choose to be like them.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Envy;   Oppression;   Young Men;   Thompson Chain Reference - Envy;   Kindness-Cruelty;   Oppression;   The Topic Concordance - Envy;  

Dictionaries:

- Fausset Bible Dictionary - Proverbs, the Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Envy;   Proverbs, Book of;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Proverbs book of;  

Encyclopedias:

- International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Envy;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Covetousness;  

Devotionals:

- Every Day Light - Devotion for January 20;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Don’t envy a violent manor choose any of his ways;
Hebrew Names Version
Don't envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.
King James Version
Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
English Standard Version
Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways,
New Century Version
Don't be jealous of those who use violence, and don't choose to be like them.
New English Translation
Do not envy a violent man, and do not choose to imitate any of his ways;
Amplified Bible
Do not envy a man of violence And do not choose any of his ways.
New American Standard Bible
Do not envy a violent person, And do not choose any of his ways.
World English Bible
Don't envy the man of violence. Choose none of his ways.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Bee not enuious for the wicked man, neither chuse any of his wayes.
Legacy Standard Bible
Do not envy a man of violenceAnd do not choose any of his ways.
Berean Standard Bible
Do not envy a violent man or choose any of his ways;
Contemporary English Version
Don't be jealous of cruel people or follow their example.
Complete Jewish Bible
Don't envy a man of violence, don't choose any of his ways;
Darby Translation
Envy not the man of violence, and choose none of his ways.
George Lamsa Translation
Do not envy a wicked man, and choose none of his ways.
Good News Translation
Don't be jealous of violent people or decide to act as they do,
Lexham English Bible
Do not envy a man of violence, and do not choose any of his ways,
Literal Translation
Do not be envious of the cruel man, and choose not among all his ways.
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Folowe not a wicked man, and chose none of his wayes:
American Standard Version
Envy thou not the man of violence, And choose none of his ways.
Bible in Basic English
Have no envy of the violent man, or take any of his ways as an example.
JPS Old Testament (1917)
Envy thou not the man of violence, and choose none of his ways.
King James Version (1611)
Enuie thou not the oppressour, and choose none of his wayes.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Folowe not a wicked man, and chose none of his wayes:
Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
Procure not the reproaches of bad men, neither do thou covet their ways.
English Revised Version
Envy thou not the man of violence, and choose none of his ways.
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Sue thou not an vniust man, sue thou not hise weies.
Update Bible Version
Don't envy the man of violence, And choose none of his ways.
Webster's Bible Translation
Envy thou not the oppressor, and choose none of his ways.
New King James Version
Do not envy the oppressor, And choose none of his ways;
New Living Translation
Don't envy violent people or copy their ways.
New Life Bible
Do not be jealous of a man who hurts others, and do not choose any of his ways.
New Revised Standard
Do not envy the violent and do not choose any of their ways;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Do not thou envy the man of violence, neither choose thou any of his ways;
Douay-Rheims Bible
Envy not the unjust man, and do not follow his ways.
Revised Standard Version
Do not envy a man of violence and do not choose any of his ways;
Young's Literal Translation
Be not envious of a man of violence, Nor fix thou on any of his ways.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
Do not envy a man of violence And do not choose any of his ways.

Contextual Overview

27 Do everything you possibly can for those who need help. 28 If your neighbor needs something you have, don't say, "Come back tomorrow." Give it to him immediately. 29 Don't make plans to harm your neighbor, who lives near you and trusts you. 30 Don't take people to court without good reason, especially when they have done nothing to harm you. 31 Don't envy those who are violent. Never choose to be like them. 32 Such crooked people are disgusting to the Lord . But he is a friend to those who are good and honest. 33 The Lord curses a wicked family, but he blesses the homes of those who live right. 34 He will humiliate those who make fun of others, but he is kind to those who are humble. 35 The way the wise live will bring them honor, but the way fools live will bring them shame.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Envy: Proverbs 23:17, Proverbs 24:1, Proverbs 24:19, Proverbs 24:20, Psalms 37:1, Psalms 37:7-9, Psalms 73:3, Galatians 5:21

the oppressor: Heb. a man of violence, Ecclesiastes 5:8

choose: Proverbs 1:15-18, Proverbs 2:12-15, Proverbs 12:12, Proverbs 22:22-25

Reciprocal: Psalms 73:6 - violence Proverbs 16:29 - General Ezekiel 18:7 - hath not 1 Peter 2:1 - envies

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Envy thou not the oppressor,.... The man that gets wealth and riches by acts of injustice, by oppressing the poor, by rapine and violence; do not envy his prosperity, and the substance he is possessed of; do not wish to be in his place and circumstances, to enjoy his affluence and ease; do not look upon his happiness with an envious eye and a fretting heart; he is far from being a happy man; his end will be bad; see Psalms 37:1;

and choose none of his ways; which he has used to get his riches in; do not follow him in them; for should you do as he has done, and get ever so much, since this would be with the loss of your souls, of what advantage would it be? He makes the best choice that chooses the "good part" that shall not be taken away, Luke 10:42; Christ, and the ways of Christ.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

A marked change in style. The continuous exhortation is replaced by a series of maxims.

From them to whom it is due - literally, as in the margin. The precept expresses the great Scriptural thought that the so-called possession of wealth is but a stewardship; that the true owners of what we call our own are those to whom, with it, we may do good. Not to relieve them is a breach of trust.

Proverbs 3:28

Procrastination is especially fatal to the giving impulse. The Septuagint adds the caution: “for thou knowest not what the morrow will bring forth.”

Proverbs 3:29

Securely - i. e., “With full trust,” without care or suspicion. Compare Judges 18:7, Judges 18:27.

Proverbs 3:31

A protest against the tendency to worship success, to think the lot of the “man of violence” enviable, and therefore to be chosen.

Proverbs 3:32

The true nature of such success. That which people admire is an abomination to Yahweh. His “secret,” i. e., His close, intimate communion as of “friend with friend,” is with the righteous.

Proverbs 3:33

The thought, like that which appears in Zechariah 5:3-4, and pervades the tragedies of Greek drama, is of a curse, an Ate, dwelling in a house from generation to generation, the source of ever-recurring woes. There is, possibly, a contrast between the “house” or “palace” of the rich oppressor and the lowly shepherd’s hut, the “sheep-cote” 2 Samuel 7:8 ennobled only by its upright inhabitants.

Proverbs 3:34

Surely - Better, If he scorneth the scorners, i. e., Divine scorn of evil is the complement, and, as it were, the condition, of divine bounty to the lowly (compare the marginal reference and the Proverbs 1:26 note).

Proverbs 3:35

The margin conveys the thought that “fools” glory in that which is indeed their shame. Others take the clause as meaning “every fool takes up shame,” i. e., gains nothing but that.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Proverbs 3:31. Envy thou not the oppressor — O how bewitching is power! Every man desires it; and yet all hate tyrants. But query, if all had power, would not the major part be tyrants?


 
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