Proverbs 28:13

28:13 The one who covers ¹  his transgressions will not prosper, ² 

but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy. ³ 

Ezekiel 18:27-32

18:27 When a wicked person turns from the wickedness he has committed and does what is just and right, he will preserve his life. 18:28 Because he considered ⁴  and turned from all the sins he had done, he will surely live; he will not die. 18:29 Yet the house of Israel says, ‘The Lord’s conduct is unjust!’ Is my conduct unjust, O house of Israel? Is it not your conduct that is unjust?

18:30 “Therefore I will judge each person according to his conduct, ⁵  O house of Israel, declares the sovereign Lord. Repent ⁶  and turn from all your wickedness; then it will not be an obstacle leading to iniquity. ⁷  18:31 Throw away all your sins you have committed and fashion yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! ⁸  Why should you die, O house of Israel? 18:32 For I take no delight in the death of anyone, ⁹  declares the sovereign Lord. Repent and live!

¹ tn The Hebrew participles provide the subject matter in this contrast. On the one hand is the person who covers over (מְכַסֶּה, mÿkhasseh) his sins. This means refusing to acknowledge them in confession, and perhaps rationalizing them away. On the other hand there is the one who both “confesses” (מוֹדֶה, modeh) and “forsakes” (עֹזֵב, ’ozev) the sin. To “confess” sins means to acknowledge them, to say the same thing about them that God does.

² sn The verse contrasts the consequences of each. The person who refuses to confess will not prosper. This is an understatement (a figure of speech known as tapeinosis); the opposite is the truth, that eventually such a person will be undone and ruined. On the other hand, the penitent will find mercy. This expression is a metonymy of cause for the effect – although “mercy” is mentioned, what mercy provides is intended, i.e., forgiveness. In other passages the verb “conceal” is used of God’s forgiveness – he covers over the iniquity (Ps 32:1). Whoever acknowledges sin, God will cover it; whoever covers it, God will lay it open.

³ sn This verse is unique in the book of Proverbs; it captures the theology of forgiveness (e.g., Pss 32 and 51). Every part of the passage is essential to the point: Confession of sins as opposed to concealing them, coupled with a turning away from them, results in mercy.

⁴ tn Heb “he saw.”

⁵ tn Heb “ways.”

⁶ tn The verbs and persons in this verse are plural whereas the individual has been the subject of the chapter.

⁷ tn Or “leading to punishment.”

⁸ sn In Ezek 11:19, 36:26 the new heart and new spirit are promised as future blessings.

⁹ tn Heb “the death of the one dying.”