Proverbs 13:22

13:22 A benevolent ¹  person leaves an inheritance ²  for his grandchildren, ³ 

but the wealth of a sinner is stored up for the righteous. ⁴ 

Proverbs 28:8

28:8 The one who increases his wealth by increasing interest ⁵ 

gathers it for someone who is gracious ⁶  to the needy.

Job 27:16-17

27:16 If he piles up silver like dust

and stores up clothing like mounds of clay,

27:17 what he stores up ⁷  a righteous man will wear,

and an innocent man will inherit his silver.

Habakkuk 2:6

The Proud Babylonians are as Good as Dead

2:6 “But all these nations will someday taunt him ⁸ 

and ridicule him with proverbial sayings: ⁹ 

‘The one who accumulates what does not belong to him is as good as dead ¹⁰ 

(How long will this go on?) ¹¹  –

he who gets rich by extortion!’ ¹² 

Zechariah 5:4

5:4 “I will send it out,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones.”

Malachi 2:2

2:2 If you do not listen and take seriously ¹³  the need to honor my name,” says the Lord who rules over all, “I will send judgment ¹⁴  on you and turn your blessings into curses – indeed, I have already done so because you are not taking it to heart.

¹ tn Heb “good.”

² sn In ancient Israel the idea of leaving an inheritance was a sign of God’s blessing; blessings extended to the righteous and not the sinners.

³ tn Heb “the children of children.”

⁴ sn In the ultimate justice of God, the wealth of the wicked goes to the righteous after death (e.g., Ps 49:10, 17).

⁵ tn Heb “by interest and increase” (so ASV; NASB “by interest and usury”; NAB “by interest and overcharge.” The two words seem to be synonyms; they probably form a nominal hendiadys, meaning “by increasing [exorbitant] interest.” The law prohibited making a commission or charging interest (Exod 22:25; Lev 25:36-37; Deut 23:20; Ps 15:5). If the poor needed help, the rich were to help them – but not charge them interest.

⁶ tn The term חוֹנֵן (khonen, “someone who shows favor”) is the active participle.

⁷ tn The text simply repeats the verb from the last clause. It could be treated as a separate short clause: “He may store it up, but the righteous will wear it. But it also could be understood as the object of the following verb, “[what] he stores up the righteous will wear.” The LXX simply has, “All these things shall the righteous gain.”

⁸ tn Heb “Will not these, all of them, take up a taunt against him…?” The rhetorical question assumes the response, “Yes, they will.” The present translation brings out the rhetorical force of the question by rendering it as an affirmation.

⁹ tn Heb “and a mocking song, riddles, against him? And one will say.”

¹⁰ tn Heb “Woe [to] the one who increases [what is] not his.” The Hebrew term הוֹי (hoy, “woe,” “ah”) was used in funeral laments and carries the connotation of death.

¹¹ tn This question is interjected parenthetically, perhaps to express rhetorically the pain and despair felt by the Babylonians’ victims.

¹² tn Heb “and the one who makes himself heavy [i.e., wealthy] [by] debts.” Though only appearing in the first line, the term הוֹי (hoy) is to be understood as elliptical in the second line.

¹³ tn Heb “and if you do not place upon [the] heart”; KJV, NAB, NRSV “lay it to heart.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “the curse” (so NASB, NRSV); NLT “a terrible curse.”