19 It takes more than talk to keep workers in line; mere words go in one ear and out the other.
20 Observe the people who always talk before they think - even simpletons are better off than they are.
21 If you let people treat you like a doormat, you'll be quite forgotten in the end.
22 Angry people stir up a lot of discord; the intemperate stir up trouble.
23 Pride lands you flat on your face; humility prepares you for honors.
24 Befriend an outlaw and become an enemy to yourself. When the victims cry out, you'll be included in their curses if you're a coward to their cause in court.
25 The fear of human opinion disables; trusting in God protects you from that.
26 Everyone tries to get help from the leader, but only God will give us justice.
27 Good people can't stand the sight of deliberate evil; the wicked can't stand the sight of well-chosen goodness.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Proverbs 29:19-27
Commentary on Proverbs 29:19
(Read Proverbs 29:19)
Here is an unprofitable, slothful, wicked servant; one that serves not from conscience, or love, but from fear.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:20
(Read Proverbs 29:20)
When a man is self-conceited, rash, and given to wrangling, there is more hope of the ignorant and profligate.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:21
(Read Proverbs 29:21)
Good usage to a servant does not mean indulgence, which would ruin even a child. The body is a servant to the soul; those that humour it, and are over-tender of it, will find it forget its place.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:22
(Read Proverbs 29:22)
An angry, passionate disposition makes men provoking to one another, and provoking to God.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:23
(Read Proverbs 29:23)
Only those who humble themselves shall be exalted and established.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:24
(Read Proverbs 29:24)
The receiver is as bad as the thief.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:25
(Read Proverbs 29:25)
Many are ashamed to own Christ now; and he will not own them in the day of judgment. But he that trusts in the Lord will be saved from this snare.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:26
(Read Proverbs 29:26)
The wisest course is, to look to God, and seek the favour of the Ruler of rulers; for every creature is that to us which God makes it to be.
Commentary on Proverbs 29:27
(Read Proverbs 29:27)
The just man abhors the sins of the wicked, and shuns their company. Christ exposed the wickedness of men, yet prayed for the wicked when they were crucifying him. Hatred to sin in ourselves and others, is a needful branch of the Christian temper. But all that are unholy, have rooted hatred to godliness.