Proverbs 14:19

Those who are evil will bow ¹  before those who are good, and the wicked will bow ²  at the gates ³  of the righteous.

biblegateway Pro 14:19

Evil men will bow down in the presence of the good, and the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

biblegateway Pro 14:19

The evil will bow down before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

biblegateway Pro 14:19

Evil people will bow before good people; the wicked will bow at the gates of the godly.

biblegateway Pro 14:19

Eventually, evil will pay tribute to good; the wicked will respect God-loyal people.

SABDAweb Pro 14:19

The knees of the evil are bent before the good; and sinners go down in the dust at the doors of the upright.

bibleoremus Pro 14:19

The evil bow down before the good, the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

biblegateway Pro 14:19

The evil will bow before the good, And the wicked at the gates of the righteous.

biblegateway Pro 14:19

Those who are evil will bow ¹  before those who are good, and the wicked will bow ²  at the gates ³  of the righteous.

¹ tn Many versions nuance the perfect tense verb שָׁחַח (shakhakh) as a characteristic perfect. But the proverb suggests that the reality lies in the future. So the verb is best classified as a prophetic perfect (cf. NASB, NIV, CEV, NLT): Ultimately the wicked will acknowledge and serve the righteous – a point the prophets make.

² tn The phrase “will bow” does not appear in this line but is implied by the parallelism; it is supplied in the translation for clarity and smoothness.

³ sn J. H. Greenstone suggests that this means that they are begging for favors (Proverbs, 154).