PROVERBS CHAPTER 21.
V. 11. When the scorner is punished, the simple is made wise, since he profits by the example of warning; and when the wise is instructed, he receiveth knowledge, no severe correction or punishment being necessary in his case, since he accepts teaching readily. Compare chapter 19, 25.
V. 12. The righteous man wisely considereth the house of the wicked, the reference evidently being to God, who marks the house of the ungodly, noting every sign of wickedness, every deed of violence; but God overthroweth the wicked for their wickedness, He plunges them into misfortune and destruction.
V. 13. Whoso stoppeth his ears at the cry of the poor, deliberately and hard-heartedly ignoring their appeals for help, he also shall cry himself, but shall not be heard, thus being punished in the manner in which he transgressed.
V. 14. A gift in secret pacifieth anger, a gift brought concealed in the bosom and presented at the proper moment; and a reward in the bosom, a gift of bribery, strong wrath, for the more liberal the present, the more readily will it influence the one who receives it.