Proverbs 19:9–12

PROVERBS CHAPTER 19.

V. 9. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish. Compare 19:5.

V. 10. Delight is not seemly for a fool, a life of luxury does not become him, much less for a servant to have rule over princes, this being possible at courts where the favorites of the sovereign ingratiate themselves and eventually direct the affairs of the realm.

V. 11. The discretion of a man deferreth his anger; if he always follows the dictates of prudence, he will delay his anger and show all due patience with the erring; and it is his glory, it adds to his honorable reputation, to pass over a transgression, not by condoning and ignoring it, but by keeping it from becoming public property, to be made a morsel of defaming tongues.

V. 12. The king’s wrath is as the roaring of a lion, striking terror to the hearts of men as he prepares to fall upon his prey; but his favor is as dew upon the grass, pleasant and refreshing.