Proverbs 18:23
The poor man pleads for mercy, but the rich man answers harshly.
BSB
ASV
The poor useth entreaties; But the rich answereth roughly.
KJV
The poor useth intreaties; but the rich answereth roughly.
With supplications a poor man speaks, etc. The humble in spirit humbly worship the Lord, like the publican in the Gospel; the proud boast of their merits, like the Pharisee.
Note the paradox. The poor man, of whom one might expect roughness, supplicates; the rich, well nurtured, from whom one might look for courtesy, answers harshly and brusquely.
Rare words are the text's own signal of a deliberate thread: the fewer the occurrences, the more the places it appears belong together.
The walk8
Follow this verse’s cross-references two steps out. Each card is a verse this one points to, and beneath it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several different paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it. Every stop shows its own words, and every stop is a page.
Through
Exodus 5:2But Pharaoh replied, “Who is the LORD that I should obey His voice and let Israel go? I do not know the LORD, and I will not let Israel go.”
leads to
But I know that the king of Egypt will not allow you to go unless a mighty hand compels him.
Who is the Almighty, that we should serve Him, and what would we gain if we pray to Him?’
Who among all the gods of these lands has delivered his land from my hand? How then can the LORD deliver Jerusalem from my hand?”
Through
James 2:6But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
leads to
He who mocks the poor insults their Maker; whoever gloats over calamity will not go unpunished.
Whoever oppresses the poor taunts their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors Him.
Don’t you have your own homes in which to eat and drink? Or do you despise the church of God and humiliate those who have nothing? What can I say to you? Shall I…
Through
James 2:3If you lavish attention on the man in fine clothes and say, “Here is a seat of honor,” but say to the poor man, “You must stand” or “Sit at my feet,”
leads to
For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, so that you through His poverty might become rich.
But you have dishonored the poor. Is it not the rich who oppress you and drag you into court?
