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InterlinearVerse GEN EXO LEV NUM DEU JOB JOS JDG RUTH 1 SAM 2 SAM PSA AMOS HOS 1 KI 2 KI 1 CHR 2 CHR PROV ECC SNG JOEL MIC ISA ZEP HAB JER LAM YNA (JNA) NAH OBA DAN EZE EZRA EST NEH HAG ZEC MAL LAO GES LES ESG DNG 2 PS TOB JDT WIS SIR BAR LJE PAZ SUS BEL MAN 1 MAC 2 MAC 3 MAC 4 MAC YHN (JHN) MARK MAT LUKE ACTs YAC (JAM) GAL 1 TH 2 TH 1 COR 2 COR ROM COL PHM EPH PHP 1 TIM TIT 1 PET 2 PET 2 TIM HEB YUD (JUD) 1 YHN (1 JHN) 2 YHN (2 JHN) 3 YHN (3 JHN) REV
Prov C1 C2 C3 C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9 C10 C11 C12 C13 C14 C15 C16 C17 C18 C19 C20 C21 C22 C23 C24 C25 C26 C27 C28 C29 C30 C31
Prov 28 V1 V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 V10 V11 V12 V14 V15 V16 V17 V18 V19 V20 V21 V22 V23 V24 V25 V26 V27 V28
OET (OET-LV) one_who_conceals transgressions_of_his not he_will_prosper and_one_who_confesses and_one_who_forsakes_them he_will_be_shown_mercy.
OET (OET-RV) Someone covering their faults won’t prosper,
⇔ ^ but the one who confesses and then abandons their bad behaviour, will be shown mercy.
This section is the second collection of Solomon’s proverbs. These proverbs were organized and copied by men who served King Hezekiah. Most scholars divide this section into two groups. These groups differ in several ways.
The first group (chapters 25–27) has many more comparisons and admonitions. In Hebrew, most of these comparisons are metaphors in which one or more illustrations precede the topic. Some English versions change the order so that the topic precedes the illustration(s). You should follow the order that expresses the meaning naturally and effectively in your language.
In the first group, many proverbs are one verse long. As with the individual proverbs in the main collection of Solomon’s proverbs (Section 10:1–22:16), they are not related to the proverbs around them. Other proverbs in this group are two or more verses long. Still others are one-verse proverbs that are closely related in theme. Proverbs in all three categories will be marked as separate paragraphs.
The second group (chapters 28–29) has more contrastive proverbs. The proverbs in this group are each one verse long. They will not be marked as separate paragraphs.
Some other headings for this section are:
More Proverbs of Solomon (NIV)
Proverbs of Solomon Collected by Hezekiah (NET)
These are also wise things that Solomon said
Notice the parallel parts that contrast in meaning:
13a He who conceals his sins does not prosper,
13bbut whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
He who conceals his sins will not prosper,
People who hide their sins will not succeed in doing what they planned/intended.
If you(sing) refuse to confess your sins, you will not reach/accomplish your goals.
Your(sing) life will not become better if you try to hide the bad things that you do to other people.
He who conceals his sins: A person who covers or conceals his sins tries to hide them. In light of the parallel phrase in 28:13b, it means that he refuses to confess them.
sins: In this context, the word sins refers to evil deeds or offenses that a person commits. The verse does not specify whether these sins are against God or people. If possible, leave this information implied. If it is necessary to make it explicit in your language, these sins are probably against other people.Fox (p. 826) comments that elsewhere in Proverbs (10:18, 11:13, 17:9, 26:26), “covering up” a sin “refers to hiding one’s feelings and offenses toward other people.” Waltke (p. 417) defines the sins here as “legal offenses against the personal and property rights of others.”
Some other ways to translate this clause are:
The one who covers his transgressions (NET)
If you hide your sins (NCV)
If you don’t confess your sins (CEV)
will not prosper: The phrase will not prosper means that he will not make progress toward reaching his goals. He will not succeed in doing what he intended.Waltke (p. 417), UBS (p. 594), TWOT #1917. This phrase may imply material prosperity, but according to most scholars, that is not the main meaning. Some other ways to translate this phrase are:
will not succeed (NJPS)
will not be able to do what he planned
will be a failure (CEV)
In some languages, it may be more natural to state the negative meaning of this line in a different way. For example:
No one who conceals transgressions will prosper (NRSV)
It may also be more natural to reorder some of the parallel parts. For example:
You will never succeed in life if you try to hide your sins. (GNT)
but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy.
But people who confess their sins and forsake/abandon them will obtain mercy from Yahweh.
But if you(sing) admit that you have sinned and turn away from your sins, Yahweh will be merciful to you.
But Yahweh will show you(sing) compassion if you confess those bad deeds to him and stop doing what is wrong.
but whoever confesses and renounces them will find mercy: This line is more literally “but one who confesses and one who forsakes them, he will be shown mercy.” This verse does not make explicit that a person confesses his sins to the LORD, nor does it specify that the LORD is the one who shows him mercy. In some languages, it may be necessary to make this implied information explicit in one or both phrases.
confesses and renounces: The word confesses means here that the person who has sinned admits or acknowledges that he has done wrong.Several scholars point out that the word translated here as “confesses” usually means “acknowledges with public praise.” Almost all conclude that in this context it means to acknowledge or confess sin. See UBS (p. 594), Waltke (p. 417), TWOT #847, and NIDOTTE (H3344) for more details. All English versions consulted translated the word as “confess/confesses.” The word renounces means that a person abandons or turns away from his sin.
Some other ways to translate 28:13b are:
but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy (NLT)
Confess them and give them up; then God will show mercy to you. (GNT)
In some languages, it may be more natural to reorder some of the parts of this line. For example:
But God will be merciful if you confess your sins and give them up. (CEV)
Note 1 topic: figures-of-speech / genericnoun
מְכַסֶּ֣ה פְ֭שָׁעָיו & וּמוֹדֶ֖ה
conceals transgressions_of,his & and,[one_who]_confesses
One who covers, his, and one who confesses refer to types of people in general, not specific people. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use more natural expressions. Alternate translation: “Any person who covers that person’s own transgressions … but any person who confesses”
Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / metaphor
מְכַסֶּ֣ה
conceals
Here Solomon refers to someone concealing his transgressions as if transgressions were objects that someone covers. See how you translated the same use of covers in [10:6](../10/06.md).
Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / abstractnouns
פְ֭שָׁעָיו
transgressions_of,his
See how you translated the abstract noun transgressions in [10:12](../10/12.md).
Note 4 topic: figures-of-speech / ellipsis
וּמוֹדֶ֖ה וְעֹזֵ֣ב
and,[one_who]_confesses and,[one_who]_forsakes_[them]
Solomon is leaving out some of the words that in many languages a sentence would need in order to be complete. You could supply these words from earlier in the sentence if it would be clearer in your language. Alternate translation: “but one who confesses and forsakes his transgressions”
Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive
יְרֻחָֽם
obtain_mercy
If your language does not use the passive form in this way, you could state this in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. The context implies that Yahweh will do the action. Alternate translation: “Yahweh will show mercy to”
28:13 The wise admit their mistakes and sins and pursue correction (see Ps 32:1-5).
OET (OET-LV) one_who_conceals transgressions_of_his not he_will_prosper and_one_who_confesses and_one_who_forsakes_them he_will_be_shown_mercy.
OET (OET-RV) Someone covering their faults won’t prosper,
⇔ ^ but the one who confesses and then abandons their bad behaviour, will be shown mercy.
Note: The OET-RV is still only a first draft, and so far only a few words have been (mostly automatically) matched to the Hebrew or Greek words that they’re translated from.
Acknowledgements: The Hebrew text, lemmas, and morphology are all thanks to the OSHB and some of the glosses are from Macula Hebrew.